A Half-Breed in the Shinsengumi
by celestia193
Summary: The captain of the 5th Division of the Shinsengumi is a professional killer, a former assassin. After escaping from her homeland, she arrives in Edo, searching for safety from her influential father. There, she meets those samurai who would one day become the leaders of the Shinsengumi. OC insert into the anime storyline, influence from Heisuke's game route. I do not own Hakuōki.
1. Arrival in Edo

Born as a senator's daughter in Greece, I grew up in luxury, and with an uncommonly good education, even for the highest class noblewomen of Europe. But it is the arts that my father has denied me that I take the most interest in. Swordplay, archery, hand to hand combat, and the other skills practiced by the soldiers. He says that it is not ladylike to practice such things, and that I should keep quiet and focus on my studies.

* * *

I didn't appreciate being treated like a doll, like an invalid. So, at the age of ten, I took it upon myself to run away from home. Not long after, I ran into a group of mercenaries. But instead of running away from them, I asked them to teach me what they knew. I asked them to let me join them.

They gave me a chance, but it was difficult for me to prove my worth to them at first. But with my aptitude for their arts, I learned quickly and became an expert in assassination in only a few months, startling them all with my quick progress. They were able to provide me with armor and weapons, and as I grew, my skills only became better. And as an assassin, I was perfect, since no one would suspect a young girl. The best part was that my targets were always people who definitely deserved to die, the scum of the earth. People that I could kill, and not feel guilty over.

* * *

But my perfect life was not to last. It all went wrong when I was thirteen years old. A messenger from my absent mother found me, and the encounter was not peaceful in the slightest. I had refused to go with him, and he insisted. My friends tried to protect me from him, resulting only in their deaths. The messenger told me that as the youngest child of his master's favorite daughter, I must return to Greece to be taught in Olympia of my heritage. And when I demanded to know what he was talking about, he revealed to me why I have such skills in combat, and why I never seem to tire when I should. I am only half human, my mother is a phoenix.

So I run. I use my anger, and I draw on strength that I've never known before. Then I knock out the messenger and run for it. I use the money that the group had saved up, taking it hesitantly off their still bodies, and charter a boat to take me away from Europe. Since the captain of the boat happens to be Japanese, though capable of speaking English, he teaches me to speak Japanese. And he has sage advice. "If you are running away from somewhere that you would rather not return to, then Japan is good, because it is still very closed to outsiders."

And of course, it makes sense to me. "Then to Japan we go. I never want to see this place ever again."

So for several months, I stay on the boat as it sails around Africa, and towards eastern Asia, docking at every major port for trading. And in those months, I master a large amount of the spoken language of Japan. The written part proves to be an immense challenge, because of the sheer number of different symbols, but the captain assures me that with practice, I will come to learn it.

The captain finally drops me off. "This place is called Edo, it is where the Shogun has the most power. But be careful not to be caught by anyone suspicious. There are many dangerous people lurking about."

"Thank you for your help, I will never forget it." I unpack my things and get myself dressed in my armor. "And don't worry about me, because anyone who crosses me will die."

I run off with my swords in my bag. There is no need for me to run around with those on my back, otherwise I might be seen and scare someone. And I consciously make a change to start speaking in Japanese, because I don't want anyone to immediately peg me as a foreigner.

I run through the city and find that no one is paying me much attention. That's good, since I want to get my bearings quickly and find a place to hide. Thankfully, the city and surrounding area seems large enough to hide in. The problem is finding a place that no one will come looking for me in.

* * *

I spend a couple of weeks hiding out in an old shrine on the outskirts of the city. The area is peaceful enough, and I can go out to hunt for food. The only problem is that autumn will be coming soon, and this old shrine isn't going to protect me very well against the cold. So I have to start searching for a better place to hide out, or maybe find a family to take me in. And I refuse to work in the red light district.

One day, I venture out with my bag, looking for a new place to go. A priest stops me. "Child, you look cold and hungry. Come to the shrine and I will get you some food."

"No thank you, sir, I will be fine."

"Well, at least take this, the nights are cold." He hands me a cloak, and insists so strongly that I can't possibly refuse. I must look so much like an innocent little girl that he hasn't realized that I have daggers in my clothes and in my boots. But even though I'm hardy the catholic that my father wished me to be, I'm not about to convert to whatever weird religion they practice over here. Because after meeting that messenger... I know what I am...


	2. An Assassin's Timely Rescue

I walk the streets, looking carefully for any abandoned building that could prove to be a good hiding place for me. But it looks like the men are starting to take notice of me, so I hurry along and pull up the hood of the cloak. My focus is clear, and I have no time to waste with men who want to flirt, or those who would turn me in to the government for money, just for me to be killed on suspicion of being a spy. Or worse, returned to my father.

* * *

By the end of the day, I've had no luck in my search. My frustration continues to mount, and to make things worse, I've been spotted. I'm too close to the red light district for my tastes, and three men approach me, obviously hoping that I'll be able to entertain them. Unluckily for them, I'm not the kind of girl that can be pushed around.

As the first man puts his hand on my shoulder and flicks back my hood, I glare up at him. "Oh, don't make such an angry face, it will spoil your pretty looks." Then he takes a closer look at me. "Oh, are you foreign?" I continue to glare, so he just leers. " We don't get a lot of foreign girls here. A foreign girl might sell for a lot, or maybe just be a lot of fun to play around with."

Since this area is a bit too crowded for my tastes, I change my expression and smile. "Perhaps, we could head someplace quiet, away from people, otherwise you won't be able to hear me very well." That seems to get him excited, so he guides me along the street and out of the city center, towards the outskirts at the west end.

Upon reaching the destination that these lecherous scoundrels had in mind, I figure that we are far enough away from the public for me to be as open about my talents as I like. The man reaches his hand down and touches my chest, which is his first and last mistake. I grab the daggers from the sheaths on my back and stab him twice in the arm, then kick him away from me and toss back my cloak, revealing my leather armor. "Big mistake you pervert!"

The two other men yelp in alarm, then draw swords and advance on me. "Get her! She's just one little brat!" And I take note of their weapons. Their swords are single edged katana, according to what the ship captain told me about the weapons here, about three and a half feet long. They have longer reach than my own swords, which will make them less use in this fight. Which means that my best bet is to hit them with my throwing knives and hope that I can take them down by hitting their vitals in the midst of a battle with the both of them.

Unfortunately, the one I stabbed earlier has stopped writhing on the ground, and starts shouting. "Hey! Come on! We have a feisty one!" And just my luck, the guy has friends. About ten men come running, which means that with the injured one back on his feet, I'll have to fight thirteen of them. What a pain in the ass, and I don't have the element of surprise this time. If I had the element of surprise, they would all be on the ground in seconds.

I look around quickly, then adjust my bag, which holds my swords. With the odds clearly not in my favor, I run for it. I may be brave, but I'm not stupid, I know that I can't take them all on in my current state, at least not without incurring serious injuries. I run for what seems like forever, and I seem to be circling around the outskirts of the city. At this point, all I can do is hope to outrun them, find a place to hide, or hope that the officials will intervene.

After ten minutes of running, it seems that my pursuers are not eager to give up the chase. I've been able to outrun them this much, but I can't keep it up. I may be stronger than any human girls my age, but I still have a limit to the stamina in my still growing body.

Finally, I stop and turn to face my pursuers, ready to fight to the death if I have to. And it looks like I will have to, because they all have swords in their hands, and they look ready to use them. So I draw my blades. "Come and get me, if you have the balls for it!" That seems to really tick them off, and they all charge at me at once.

The first three to get to me are the most unfortunate, because with my speed, I take all three down in a matter of seconds. Their compatriots surround me, and it isn't looking too good. So I grab the throwing knives stashed in my armor and throw them, which takes down another four, leaving me with six to contend with, and only my two knives left.

As they start jabbing their swords at me, I find myself dancing in order to dodge them all. But the problem that my dodging causes is that they end up hitting each other and blood flies everywhere. A large splash of blood hits me in the face, forcing my eyes shut in order to keep the blood from running into my eyes. I manage to take down another two on sound alone, but I feel swords scraping against my armor.

Right when I expect to be skewered by one of them, a cry rings out and I hear the clashing of swords all around me. I try to wipe the blood out of my eyes, but it does no good, I just can't seem to get it off my face. Then I realize that there is blood all over my gloves, which is why I can't wipe any off.

Suddenly, everything becomes quiet, and I throw my arms up to defend myself. But a different voice appears next to my ear. "Calm down, those guys won't come after you again." A cloth touches my face, gently wiping the blood away. I try to stay calm, but my body is tensed up, ready for another attack to come.

But as the last of the blood is wiped off my eyes, I open them to see that there are a couple of guys, at least four or five years older than me. The one with dark red hair lowers the cloth and smiles at me. "Are you alright now?"

I jump back and hold up my knives, ready to fight these two if I have to. My eyes dart from the one with the dark red hair to the one with the reddish brown hair. Both of them look like talented fighters, and their outfits are very strange. Most of the men wear more robe-like clothing, but they wear much less restrictive clothing. It almost makes me envious, having been forced to wear dresses for ten years.

Since I'm not exactly being friendly, the one with the red hair and spear holds up his hands. "It's alright, don't be afraid. My name is Sanosuke Harada." Then he motions behind him. "And this guy is Shinpachi Nagakura. He's harmless, mostly."

Their smiles seem genuine, so I put away my knives and walk past them to the corpses. I start pulling my knives from their bodies, wiping the blood off and putting them into my bag as well. I strip off my armor, only to find that it has been ruined beyond repair.

After shoving everything into my bag and putting the blood-soaked cloak on, I turn to the two and incline my head. "Thank you for your assistance."

But as I turn away, Sanosuke puts his hand on my shoulder. "Here, let me escort you home. It would be bad manners to leave a little lady to go home alone."

I shake my head. "No need. As you can see, I'm not your average 'little lady'. Any normal girl would be safely home at this hour. Sticking around me is only bound to bring trouble."

But it seems that they aren't put off by it, and the other one, Shinpachi, decides to start throwing all sorts of questions at me. "Alright, so how are you not normal?"

I roll my eyes and point at the pile of corpses. "Normal girls can't kill nine people in a row. And they certainly don't get themselves covered in blood while trying to run away."

"Okay…then where did you learn how to fight?"

I decide that since they've already seen me fight, there is no point in hiding. "I used to be an assassin."

"That explains it. Then are you running from another assassin?"

At that, I groan. "Another assassin, I could deal with, it's selfish parents that I want nothing to do with. I'm running away from family, not from a competitor."

And then comes the most important question of all, from Sanosuke. "I see, then where are your parents? They must be important people if you're trying so hard to get away from them."

My mouth twitches a little, then I let him have a good long look at me. "Unless you're blind, you can probably see that I'm foreign. So the people that I'm running away from are a long ways from here. Back in Europe, Greece, specifically."

"So, who are you? Where are you staying? Do you plan to keep fighting here?" I know that he means well, but he's prying.

I don't want to share any more information with them, but I don't see that I have a choice. "My name is Ciara. I'm not really staying anywhere yet, I was going to find a place to set up a camp. And yes, I'll keep fighting if people keep messing with me."

"Do you have a last name?" And again with the prying.

"I do, but it doesn't matter. I ran away, remember? So the last thing I want to do is broadcast my identity to the world and get bounty hunters after me."

So, Sanosuke pats me on the head. "Well then, you're coming with us. We have a friend with a nice place who can take you in. He's a nice guy, and I'm sure that you'll fit in fine."

That alarms me. "Hey! Wait! I didn't agree to this!" But he keep his hand firmly on my shoulder and guides me at a comfortable pace as we head to the north end of the town and towards a sturdy looking building. I think that the captain called this kind of building a dojo, where people learn swordsmanship.


	3. A Warm Welcome

Even though it's a late hour, they just walk right in without knocking or anything. Shinpachi grins. "Everyone is probably eating right now, so this is the perfect time to pop in." And Sanosuke pushes me inside and ushers me along towards a back room, where I hear laughter and talking.

Shinpachi slides the door open and yells loudly. "Hey everyone! We're back! And we brought something special along this time!"

Sanosuke pushes me forward. "This little one is a runaway who needs a place to stay, and fights like a demon, judging by the situation before we stepped in. Nine people dead before we got involved with the last four."

I blush bright red and glare back at him. "The hell? Why are you trying to make me sound like a freak?"

Mouths start dropping around the room, and one man gets up fast and hurries over. He looks at my cloak, then pulls it off, revealing my ruined armor, and clothes that are completely soaked with blood. Jaws around the room drop open, and I drop my gaze to a corner, hoping that they will stop staring.

"Child, are you injured?" The man looks concerned for my health, but there's honestly no need.

I shake my head. "None of this is my blood. Just the blood of idiots who thought that trying to seduce and assault a fourteen year old former assassin was a good idea. Honestly, I never thought my face would get me into this much trouble."

At that, one of the boys sitting down grins at me. "Well, I'm glad to see that someone else my age can be a badass. And you're really pretty for a boy. No wonder they attacked you."

Instantly, I explode. "Hey idiot! I'm not a boy! I'm a girl!" I pull down the hood of my armor and glare at him. "Get it!?"

Suddenly, he looks like a fish out of water, gasping for air. "You're a girl!? And you killed nine people!? How!?"

His astonishment pisses me off. "Yeah, I did. It wasn't that hard. I'm trained to kill people, unless you don't know what an assassin does!" Already, I know that me and this weird one aren't going to get along. He is far too foolish, whereas I tend to be very serious. And with his teal eyes laughing at me, I feel very put off by his overly friendly demeanor, and idiotic assumption about my gender. I glare at him, which obviously gets the message across that I don't feel like fooling around.

The older man touches my head gently. "Why don't you wash all this blood off and get changed into some fresh clothes. Then we can have a good look at you" I don't resist as he gently takes hold of my wrist and guides me out and into another room. He steps out for a moment, so I start stripping off my blood-soaked and tattered clothes. Even my underclothes are a little stained with blood, but I don't dare remove them.

* * *

When he returns, he seems surprised to find me wearing so little, but his expression is kind, and he brings in a large bucket of steaming water. He dips a clean cloth into the water and starts wiping blood from my face and arms. He glances at my clothes. "I'll go find you some new clothes. I'm sure that there's something here that will fit you. Oh, and my name is Isami Kondou, I run this dojo."

"My name is Ciara…" That makes him smile, though I don't really understand why.

He continues to wipe off the blood, repeatedly wringing it out into another bucket, then dipping the cloth into the water, until changing it for a new cloth. He cycles the process until I can feel that most of the blood is gone. And when that is done, I take the large bucket of water, walk outside, heft it over my head, and dump the water over myself, rinsing all of the blood from my hair, and any other dirt from my body.

Now that I'm clean, Kondou takes a good look at me and smiles. Then he looks closely at my body. "How do you fight, Ciara? You seem rather small and thin."

I frown. "I'm a lot stronger than I look, and I'm fast, which is good for fighting with an arsenal of knives. And I can dual wield short-swords if needed. Apart from that, I fight in whatever way I see fit, and usually according to the situation. I've used poison before, and explosives. I'm fairly versatile."

Kondou seems to find that rather interesting. "Then why don't you try learning how to use a katana? Who knows, you may be able to learn it, since you're already skilled with weapons. And it is what everyone here learns and practices, so it would give you something to do."

At first, I feel obstinate and embarrassed, but since my armor is ruined, I have no way of carrying around my arsenal of weapons. I nod. "Alright, it might be good to learn another skill."

At that, he claps his hands together eagerly. "I'm sure that Heisuke and Souji will be happy to hear that. They always complain about not having any new opponents."

I watch as Kondou rummages around in a couple of boxes, obviously looking for something. He exclaims in delight and pulls out a short vest-looking piece of clothing and hands it to me, along with a shoulder-less shirt with long, flared sleeves, a pair of cloth shorts, sandals, greaves and a couple of long stretches of cloth. "Try putting on those clothes." He leaves the room and slides the door closed, leaving me in the candlelight.

I dry off my now clean underclothes and start putting on these new clothes. The shirt, shorts, sandals and greaves are easy enough to put on. The main problem is the vest. I've never seen such a large vest before, except for a grown man. Then it occurs to me that the people in town were wearing their clothes with one side wrapped over the other. I try to mimic that, and find that the vest fits, though it seems more like a tunic than a vest. I use one length of cloth to tie the tunic in place, letting the knot fall above my left hip. The other cloth, this one thinner, I use to tie up my rather long hair, letting it fall to my mid-back after wrapping it around my ponytail a couple of times.

I look around a little and find a pair of gloves the length of my forearms, so I pull them on and clench my hands. At least like this, I can still move around like I want to, and wield weapons like I want. But the colors of the outfit are a bit bright for my taste, since I never really had a thing for light blue or orange. My dark brown hair and deep green eyes are hardly a match for such a bright outfit.

* * *

Since I'm washed and changed, I make my way back to the dining room, counting my footsteps in order to navigate. But eventually, I hear them shouting and talking, so I follow the sounds of their voices right to the door. I open the door by a crack and see them tossing around my bag of weapons. So I pull the door open with a screech and leap towards Shinpachi, flipping right over him and grabbing my bag right from his hands. But I notice that the bag is lighter, and see some of my weapons scattered around the room, mostly in their hands.

I glare around the room. "Return my weapons. Now."

At first they're all stunned into silence, then the bratty one holds up a cloth. "Uh, we were just trying to clean them up a bit. They've still got some blood on them."

"These don't look like they've been used much." Shinpachi turns a couple of my knives over, examining them. "They have no nicks or dents in them. It's like they're brand new."

I start to grumble. "Well, obviously that's because I never go blade on blade with my opponents. I'm an assassin, which means that I go straight for the vital parts like the neck or the heart. I've even driven a knife into someone's brain before, right through the eyeball. So that's why they don't look like they've been used, because I'm careful not to let them get damaged."

That seems to put them all off a bit, so Sano changes the subject. "Well, you look very nice in those clothes, like a kunoichi, a female ninja."

"Isn't that the same thing as what I do?" I roll my eyes. "I thought that ninjas were supposed to be assassins and spies. And that has basically been my job since I was ten years old." I sit down and fume, waiting for them to finish cleaning my weapons, since they insisted on it.

In the intervening minutes, it seems that they grow accustomed to my presence, because the questions soon start flying, mostly about how I use my weapons, or where I came from, why I'm in Edo, and even why I'm in Japan. The flood of questions freaks me out, so I huddle in the corner and take deep breaths, trying to keep myself calm. And seeing that, they all stop talking and look at me with growing concern.

Before any of them can ask me how I'm doing, I shoot them a warning. "There are some things that I can't say. If I do, I have to start running again. As for why I ended up here in Edo, a few months ago, I chartered a ship to take me away from Europe. I couldn't stay there, because I would have been captured. I had to charter the ship because the mercenaries that I had been traveling with for three and a half years had been slaughtered. The captain of the ship happened to be Japanese, so he suggested that I come to Japan, and this was where he dropped me off. That's how I got here in the first place."

All of them are silent for a bit, then the brat frowns. "Mercenaries? Why would a ten year old girl join mercenaries?"

I smirk at that particular question. "Well, my father didn't really approve of me wanting to learn the arts of war. So I ran away from home and proved myself to be a fast learner, and later, a capable fighter and assassin. Other than that, the reason that I joined them was because I thought that my father would never look there for me." At that point, I shut up, because discussing my family would be a bad idea right now, at least until I'm a bit stronger, then I can run off again in case of an emergency.

Unfortunately, they seem intent on prying, because Shinpachi gives it a go next. "You said that you're from Greece, that's in the West. Why would you run halfway across the world just to get away from your father?"

I glare at him harshly. "Not another word. That is exactly the question that will force me to start running again."

That shuts him up, but Kondou takes a gentler approach. "So, why did you choose the option of running away?"

I bite my lip and suppress the rising panic in my stomach. "Because the alternative was being trapped in a life where I would be expected to sit still, look pretty, and not speak unless spoken to. I would be a decoration, a toy, to be looked at and played with without my consent. But I have a mind of my own, and I won't let any damned man take that away from me."

The expression on my face must be pretty scary, because the brat actually recoils when I look at him. I look around and notice that most of them are done with cleaning my weapons, so I toss the bag on the floor and open it up. And one at a time, they each toss the weapons back into the bag. I count them up, and once all of them are back in the bag, I tie it up and knot it tightly.

With nothing left for them to do, other than ask questions, Shinpachi and Sano head off to do some sparring. Kondou smiles at me and turns to the brat. "Heisuke, why don't you find a place for Ciara to sleep and give her a tour of the dojo before bed?"

At first, it looks like Heisuke is going to start complaining, but he jumps to his feet. "Alright Kondou-san."

Heisuke grabs my arm and grins. "Come on, the bedrooms are in the back." He pulls me out of the room and down the hall, showing me the main training room and the kitchen on the way to the back. "We're pretty cramped, since this place is small, everyone is paired up for sharing rooms. But that there is some space in my room for another person." Then he grins mischievously. "No one wanted to bunk with me, they all call me annoying."

"Can't imagine why…" I roll my eyes and shake my head.

My expression must be weird, because he stops all of a sudden. "Oh, wait. Are you going to be okay bunking with a bunch of guys? I thought that you would make a big fuss about being the only girl here, but you haven't said anything."

I shake my head. "Between the mercenaries and the ship, I'm quite used to being around men. They all knew not to touch me, otherwise they would wake up with a dagger buried in them. I'm going to assume that the same rules will apply here."

For some reason, that makes Heisuke smile. So I glare at him. "Don't try anything, otherwise I promise that you'll regret it." And now, my curiosity won't let up. "By the way, why is your hair so long?" Shinpachi and Kondou have short hair, Sano's reaches past his shoulders, and the others have varying lengths, but none of them have hair as long as his, so it intrigues me.

He just shrugs. "I like it this way." And with a grin, he throws my question back at me. "What about you? Why do you have such long hair? It must be a pain if you're trying to creep around and kill people."

I sigh. "Part of being an assassin is infiltration, and I can do that better by looking like a girl. If it weren't for the advantage of using it as a disguise, I would have cut it short a while back. It also serves the purpose of putting opponents off in a fight if they see a mane of curly hair whipping around. Not many grown men expect to see that, so it throws them off and distracts them."

Heisuke laughs as he slides open a door, revealing a small room. He points to one corner, where there is a bedroll laid out. "That's my bed, you can have any other corner. I'll go get a bedroll for you." He runs off before I can say anything, so I plop my bag down in the opposite corner and take a seat. But doing all that running earlier has made me really tired, and in only a few moments my eyes close.


	4. A New Start

From then on, Kondou teaches me how to use a katana and a wakizashi, a Japanese short-sword. Needless to say, at first, I absolutely suck at it. The balance feels off, and the swords are too light in my hands. I'm more used to dealing with either daggers which are too light for me to complain about, or short-swords with thicker tips that make them heavier than usual at the end, balancing them out in my hands. And the metal alloys that they use here are different. My weapons range from lighter steel to heavier bronze, and even to special iron alloys, necessitating different forms of upkeep for the various different weapons.

But despite the challenges, I stubbornly press on with the training, and Kondou seems amazed at what he calls fast progress. I get frustrated often, since I don't feel like I'm making progress with this style of fighting. And in a fit of frustration, I stop trying to swing the sword with both hands, which is their traditional way of wielding a sword. Instead, I start wielding it with a single hand, and even switching hands in the middle of a maneuver, a more flexible style that resembles the way that I work with my daggers and twin swords. That confuses and amazes Kondou, as well as the guys who have been watching me with growing curiosity.

Shinpachi often tells me that I swing the sword around wrong, but my response is always the same. I tell him very pointedly that the way I wield a weapon is very different to the way he wields one, and if he still thinks that I'm doing something wrong, then he is welcome to fight me and find out. That usually gets him off my back, but I have gotten into a few practice fights with him, usually ending with him having a technical win, but the practical win is always mine.

* * *

I wasn't around when Saito first comes to the dojo, but from what I heard from Sano, Saito had some crazy skills when he went up against Souji. But Saito's purpose was to come to the dojo to train, and Kondou accepted him as a student, despite the unconventional approach that Saito took to fighting. From what I could tell, left handed fighting is beaten out of students in Japan, though I think that it's just a waste, the whole point of molding a good fighter is to build on their natural talents and abilities, not make them conform to a particular style. And Saito just so happens to be a swordsman who uses his left hand instead of his right, which gives him a distinct advantage when fighting conventional opponents. I can respect his use of his left hand, since I use both my right and left as dominant hands in a fight. I enjoy the more flexible approach to fighting that my ambidextrous hands afford me.

With Saito coming around often, I find myself following him around like a lost puppy, trying to convince him to spar with me. And for the first couple of weeks, he keeps turning me down and deflecting the subject. Souji, on the other hand, is more than happy to spar with me on a regular basis, giving me a good chance to learn a few unorthodox methods from him, as well as for him to learn how to read a very foreign style of fighting.

But when the day comes that Saito finally agrees to fight me, I get so giddy that I don't even care that I lose. But it's not as though I lost on purpose, I still made him work for his win. I think that it made him respect me somewhat. And from then on, Saito would spar with me for a little while whenever he came to the dojo. And as time went on, even Heisuke joined in and became one of my regular sparring partners.

* * *

I spend three long years at the dojo, making friends and adjusting my own fighting style, growing and expanding it to encompass everything that I've learned from Kondou and the others. Then comes the time when Kondou decides that he wants to make a difference in the world, and our group joins up with the Roshigumi. And no matter what I think about Serizawa, the leader, my loyalty will always be to the friends I've made in the Shiei hall.


	5. Ryunosuke Ibuki

We make our way to Kyoto by the orders of Serizawa, one of the leaders of the Roshigumi. Personally, I hate the guy, but I don't say it out loud since I understand politics, and insulting people that can be of use is typically bad. Though he manages to gain the hatred of half the group, including Hijikata, when he burns down a building in a small town for no good reason. Honestly, the fool has probably never felt really cold in his life. I know cold well enough, I used to camp outside in the mountains with the mercenaries.

And to make things even more interesting, Serizawa picks up a stranger on the way to Kyoto, ordering us to take care of him. And since most of the others are busy with other things, and because we're the youngest and often get thrown all of the annoying tasks, it falls to me and Heisuke to take care of the poor guy. And while I have no objections to working with Heisuke, it isn't exactly thrilling to be caring for some half-dead guy. Especially seeing as I have more medical experience than Heisuke, and I end up having to tend to the guy's wounds.

* * *

When this guy finally wakes up, he is a bit less than grateful. "To hell with all the samurai!"

Heisuke is startled, to say the least. "Ah! Oh, you came to. What a relief…" The guy sits up suddenly, aggravating his wounded shoulder, and worrying Heisuke. "You shouldn't get up so quickly. I dunno what happened to you, but your whole body is black and blue."

Judging by the state of him when he arrived, he must have been beaten up, then starved. So he lies back down on the futon. "Where am I?"

"Uh, the Roshigumi's lodgings. Not that you'd know where that is, huh?" Heisuke smiles his friendly, silly smile. "It's in Mibu Village, located in the southern end of the capital."

"The capital?" The guy seems a little bewildered, to say the least. "This is Kyoto?"

"Yeah. Now then, what's your name?" Already, Heisuke is getting friendly with the guest. "Well, my name's Heisuke Toudou." He points happily to me. "And this is Ciara, she's the one who patched you up. If it weren't for her, you might not have made it."

That gets the guy's attention. "I'm Ibuki, Ryunosuke Ibuki."

"Oh, that right?" Heisuke just warms right up to this guy. "It's a pleasure, Ryunosuke. You're more than welcome to call me Heisuke if you want. I'd say we're close to the same age." Then he looks at me with a grin. "Isn't that cool?"

I roll my eyes lean away from the guys. "Hey Heisuke, since you seem to have this under control, I'm going to go scout around." I get to my feet and open the door. "I want to get to know the layout of this area before I need to know it."

"Uh, yeah sure…" He smiles strangely and watches me as I walk out and close the door behind me.

* * *

I spend the whole morning exploring, though Souji repeatedly tries to call me down for a sparring match, he must be pretty restless if he wants the crap beaten out of him so badly. And when I finally make it back inside the estate's walls, nearly a day later, I see Sano wailing on Ryunosuke. It seems that Ryunosuke has been a bit rude, or maybe just obstinate. So when it looks like the arguing has calmed, I swing down from the roof. "Hey Sano, be gentle with him. I acted basically the same way when you two brought me in. Give him a break."

Sano sighs. "Alright, fine, I'll cut him a little slack."

I turn my attention to Heisuke. "And call for me if anything interesting happens, I'm going to be on the roof. I want to take a nap, I was out all night getting the lay of the land. Oh, and if Souji comes running through here looking for me, tell him that you don't know where I am."

I turn around and make to run off, but Ryunosuke has other plans, and he grabs my arm. He takes a good look at me, frowning in confusion. "Why is there a little girl running around?"

Sano, Heisuke and Shinpachi recoil, as though expecting me to beat Ryunosuke to a pulp. But I just smile at him. "If you value your life, then you shouldn't call me a little girl, because I've killed more people than the rest of the Roshigumi has put together." My eyes glitter with a dangerous light. "It's Ciara, if you want to call me by name. But tread carefully, otherwise I'll do more damage than Sano ever could."

Ryunosuke pulls his hand back in alarm and I turn away, running off with my smile fading. Of course I've killed people, but it's not as though I've killed any innocents. Everyone who died by my hand deserved it for one reason or another. I've killed murderers, rapists, bandits, lecherous men, corrupt merchants, nobles and politicians. But each and every one of them irrefutably deserved to die.

* * *

I hang out around the estate until night falls. And finally, something interesting happens. Serizawa and Hijikata get into an argument at the front gates. So I perch on the roof and watch the ensuing chaos. Hijikata doesn't approve of Serizawa going to the red light district, and calls him out on it.

Serizawa doesn't take it lightly. "You bastard! Do you have any idea who you're speaking to? How dare you take that tone with me?" He's obviously very drunk. "Would you care to repeat what you just said? Hijikata…such insolence. What the hell did you just say to me boy?"

"I'll say it as many times as it takes." And there we go with Hijikata's need to stand up for what he thinks is right. "We're new in Kyoto. So keep your visits to the red light district within reason. You aren't the only ones who have decided to stay here."

Serizawa's lapdog takes great offense at that. "Hijikata-kun, how dare you speak that way to Serizawa!?"

"Huh, I see." Serizawa removes his fan from his obi and taps it menacingly. "And here my friends and I were out this evening laying the groundwork for the future of the Roshigumi. You dare call that playing in the red light district?"

"You're out laying the groundwork, huh?" Hijikata isn't fooled. "I would love to hear what kind of groundwork you plan to lay in Shimabara." Hijikata despises Serizawa, especially when it comes to his deplorable behavior, and especially towards women. In fact, Hijikata was the first one to fight on my behalf when it came to my joining the Roshigumi. "I don't give a rat's ass if you're from the Mito Tenguto. If you're going to throw your status as samurai in our faces, then don't do anything to give us reason to complain."

"Bastard!" Serizawa raises his hand and brings his fan down on Hijikata, stopping only an inch from his forehead. "Why didn't you dodge? Did you foolishly assume that I was just going to stop?"

"I wasn't going to dodge regardless of whether you stopped or not." I watch with great interest as Hijikata confronts Serizawa. "I didn't say anything wrong, so why would I?" I can't help smirking at his guts, but I know that he's right in what he says. Serizawa is a menace to the common folk, lording his samurai status over everyone's heads.

"It would not perturb us, should you and your little group break off from ours. If you don't like my methods, then you're free to return to Edo whenever you like." The way that Serizawa stalks off haughtily makes me want to gouge his brains out. "Let's go Nimi!"

But it seems that I'm not the only one to witness that encounter. Everyone from Shieikan dojo shows up to find out what was going on. Sannan speaks up. "Are you alight Hijikata-kun?"

"Sannan-san?" He looks around. "What? Everyone's here?" And probably on instinct, Hijikata looks up at the roof. "Ciara? You're up there too?"

I wave down at him. "You know, sometimes, I have to really control myself, otherwise I would end up beating someone half to death out of sheer annoyance. It's a curse, really, to be so much smarter than the arrogant men who throw their weight around just because they can. And Serizawa is just begging for a pounding. Luckily, I held myself back pretty well. Watching you inspired me to exercise some self-control." That gets a faint smile and a rolling of the eyes from our very irritated and angry friend, but it fades quickly.

I drop down from the roof as Hijikata enters the estate. Kondou's mellow voice is a comfort in the darkness. "We heard Serizawa's-san's voice, and thought that he had stirred up more trouble again."

"Whether he stirs up trouble or not, I'm afraid that man will clash with others simply by his mere existence." Hijikata is right about that. Serizawa is highly incompatible with the rest of us.

"Although I'm sure that is true, you must improve at shrugging off his antics, my friend." Sannan is trying to be the voice of reason, but he's talking about a very unreasonable subject.

"That bastard will have to die and be reborn at least once for that to happen." Hijikata's bitter comment elicits a round of laughter from the guys, but sends shivers down my spine. Then, Hijikata gets straight to the point. "You, there, who are you? You aren't a guest of Yagi-san's are you?"

"Well, um, I'm…" Ryunosuke loses his ability to speak, so Kondou swoops in to save him. "This is the young man we found unconscious on our way here. He said that he wanted to thank Serizawa-san, and has been waiting here for his return."

Hijikata sighs. "That makes sense."

Surprisingly, Shinpachi is the next voice of reason, probably because he wants to try and avoid a fight. "Hey, Ryunosuke. It looks like Serizawa-san's had a lot to drink. Wouldn't it be best to wait until tomorrow to thank him?"

"You bet, Serizawa-san can't hold his alcohol worth squat." Heisuke's agreement makes me snicker, because even though they're better than Serizawa, they're not better by much at holding their liquor.

"But-" Ryunosuke seems unsure, but Kondou takes charge again. "Okay, for now, let's go back inside and eat."

Since it's time for dinner, we all head inside to eat. But I end up finishing fast and leaving before the guys start getting too drunk. The biggest pitfall of being the only woman around is that when the guys get drunk, they end up doing things to get themselves hurt, mainly by me. Shinpachi has made that mistake more times that I care to count.


	6. The Roshigumi

By the time Ryunosuke comes back in the morning, everyone is awake. And Heisuke is fired up, as usual. "He said he'd keep you here as his dog!? What a horrible thing to say."

I hear all of that from the roof, and I peek over as Sano speaks. "But I could see him saying that."

I drop down into the conversation angrily. "That's terrible! I swear, that man treats everyone like they're trash! He's so pompous and arrogant and cruel, and he makes my stomach turn!"

Shinpachi doesn't contradict me, but he looks uncomfortable. "Serizawa-san is the most renowned member of the Roshigumi. But he can be hard to handle, in more ways than one." An understatement, to be sure.

But before I can get riled up enough to go give Serizawa a piece of my mind, Sano pats me on the shoulder. "Hey, you might want to cool it, unless you want to cause another disaster like your first incident with Souji." Then he turns to Shinpachi. "Shinpachi, he treats you decent enough, since both of you are trained in the Shindo Wuunin Style. That man thinks of us as nothing more than mere insects."

I growl angrily. "He treats you guys pretty bad, but the man thinks even less of me, just because I'm a woman. The fool, I can do things that he can't even imagine."

Heisuke glances at me painfully, but doesn't respond to my remark, probably because he knows that we would just get even more heated up, and get in trouble like last time. Instead, he turns to Ryunosuke. "Is that okay with you? Are you going to be his slave?"

"I guess so…it's not like I have somewhere to go anyway." Ryunosuke seems resigned to his fate, but I'm still seething. And I stalk off, irrationally angry.

Serizawa even refuses to watch my practices, so he has no idea exactly how dangerous I am. But at least the guys know. If they didn't then everything would just be awkward. I gave up trying to hide the trivial stuff from them a long time ago. But I can still hide some of the more important things from them, because I know that I won't trip myself up with lies, because there are some things that I don't talk about, and others that are just unbelievable.

* * *

Somehow, we can't even make it until noon without there being a big commotion. That draws me out of my room and over to Hijikata's room. And there appears the biggest and happiest surprise any of us could have asked for. Saito has come to join us here in Kyoto. And with the guys all greeting him, I push past Sano and jump at Saito, nearly knocking him over with a hug. "Saito! I missed you!"

Saito pats me on the head lightly. "Ciara…so you are still with the others from Edo…"

I lean back and pout a little. "Of course. Why would I leave? Someone needs to look after them, especially Heisuke, Souji and Shinpachi. Those three get into trouble like you wouldn't believe."

He chuckles lightly, and Shinpachi has to drag me off of Saito by the collar. "Alright Ciara, jeez, don't smother the guy." And we all sit down to talk with him. Though it takes a fair bit of effort to pry me away from him, since I missed Saito a bunch when he stopped coming to the dojo. He was the only sparring partner that made it hard for me to get the drop on him.

We sit around and talk to Saito for a little while, mostly greeting him, asking where he ran off to and how he's been doing. Then Souji grows a pair. "Hey Hajime-kun, since it's been a while, why don't you and me spar together?"

I complain immediately. "Hey! That's no fair Souji, I want to spar with him! It's not fair for you to get first dibs!"

Sano chuckles. "Souji and Ciara started to act all mopey when you stopped dropping by the Shiei hall, Saito." Sano shudders. "And then they started fighting each other every day. That was kinda funny to watch, but really loud."

Saito gives us a small smile. "Very well then."

And like a nagging parent, Hijikata has to add his two cents. "Don't get carried away, you three."

"Hey I'm not gonna hurt him." Souji glances at me. "She's the one you ought to be worried about. Her matches always end with bruises."

I growl at Souji. "I'll give you bruises..." He sticks his tongue out at me, and I turn my head away, ticked off again.

Hijikata then gets down to business. "As for Shinpachi, Harada and Heisuke, leave immediately and run patrols around the capital."

Heisuke reacts immediately. "Huh? Are you sure it's okay to patrol the place without permission?"

Hijikata nods. "Even if we do eventually get some clan to sponsor us, it doesn't hurt to stack up some merits."

Heisuke smiles. "Oh yeah, makes sense."

"If the rogue samurai are too much for you, why not just kill the scum?" And Souji crosses the line again.

Hijikata doesn't stand for it. "You keep quiet." And that promptly shuts Souji up.

* * *

Once Heisuke, Sano and Shinpachi leave, I drag Saito outside for practice. But, as promised, Souji gets the first crack at him. I watch as Souji and Saito go at it, and I have to admit, watching the two of them practice really gets my blood boiling. Saito's movements are as graceful and elegant as ever, and being left-handed gives him enough of an advantage to win yet again. But I notice it as well, though Souji points it out, Saito is lunging a little differently.

With Souji's match already over, I smirk at Saito. "So, are you willing to go a round with me? Or should we wait until later?"

He smiles back at me. "Why don't you pick up a wooden sword and we can spar. I can still spar with you."

That really pleases me, but before I can head for the swords, Souji tosses his at me. "Have fun!"

I grin at him. "Try training harder, then you might actually stand a chance of beating Saito!" That gets him a little irked, and he gives me an annoyed grimace as he walks off.

I take my place opposite Saito and take deep breaths as we begin. Since I'm the opponent, Saito knows that he has to be careful. He learned the hard way the first time we fought that I'm ambidextrous, meaning that I can wield a sword with either hand. He still won, but he earned himself a few bruises that time for underestimating me. And now he's well aware that my favorite tactic is to switch hands in the middle of a fight to throw my opponent off.

As we begin, he starts on the attack. His quick-draw doesn't work on me, because I've memorized his timing, plus, I'm much faster than the average opponent. That leaves him with only the option of outmaneuvering me. When we were younger, he would beat me fairly regularly. But as time passed, we came to stalemates more and more often, probably on account of my growth. Now, the likelihood is still a stalemate, but in the case of a winner, we might as well flip a coin. The challenge is to see who can strike the right way at the right time, and often, luck or an outside factor plays in to whoever wins.

Today, it seems that luck favors me, since this is his second match of the day. But when his flurry of lunges comes at me, I find myself dancing in order to dodge them all, though I still use my sword to knock some of them aside. The downside to his flurry of lunges is that he leaves himself open to a fast opponent when he draws back for the next lunge. I take advantage of his drawing back and flip my sword into my left hand, aiming a European fencing style lunge straight at his chest, brushing his kimono lightly, and stopping him in his tracks.

With my victory, he smiles again. "You're as talented as ever. And your style is even more effective than it used to be." He takes the swords and puts them back where he and Souji got them, ending our little sparring session.

* * *

And with that, we head off for dinner. We all eat together, but it seems that Ryunosuke doesn't want to come have dinner with us. Apart from that, we get the report from the patrol earlier from Shinpachi. "Right, I spotted some ruffians causing problems here and there, stuff like that."

"It would probably be best if we avoided going out alone in the near future. Those rogue samurai could strike us down at any time, day or night. And the locals won't be of any help." Sano turns to me specifically with that statement. "Especially you. You're a woman, and rogue samurai likely won't hesitate to try something with you."

I sniff irritably at Sano. "Let them try. I'm not going to run and hide from them. If they want to try something, then they'll learn the hard way that I'm not someone that they want to mess with."

"No kidding, you're like a monster when you get angry!" Heisuke laughs loudly at me, not bothering to control that loud mouth of his.

I get even more pissed off, and I grab Heisuke's ponytail. "You want to make something of it! If you want to see a monster, I can definitely make that happen."

"Ciara, Heisuke, stop fighting, now!" Hijikata hisses angrily at us, chiding us for our childishness. "And Ciara, let go of Heisuke, he was just being an idiot." I growl and let go of Heisuke, moving my food far away from him, and sitting at the end of the room to eat in peace while the others talk. Heisuke has a furious blush on his face, probably from Hijikata's chiding. And now, Hijikata smiles. "But in any case, this is what I was hoping to hear. Because the locals and the clans aren't up to the task, we have a chance to make a name for ourselves. You came prepared for danger, didn't you? After all this, you aren't going to declare that you want to go home to Edo, right?"

"I wouldn't have followed you all the way to Kyoto if I was gonna do that." Shinpachi grins eagerly, probably imagining all the fame and glory he's going to rack up.

Heisuke stops massaging his hair and answers with a smile. "That's right. Everyone here made up their minds to follow you guys ages ago."

"This may prove trying, but I hope you will bear with us for a while." Kondou bows to everyone, and as Souji points out, it's rather unnecessary. "Don't even mention it, Kondou-san."

Heisuke's grin gets bigger. "All of us are used to the poor life!"

"Like, seriously, just getting miso soup and pickles is a luxury compared to life back at Shiei hall." Shinpachi picks his food back up and stares at it happily. And there is a general muttering of agreement around the room, along with a lot of laughter.

I decide to voice my thoughts now. "Actually, I like the food here better. I've had the luxurious stuff, and it was horrible. All it's good for is giving you a stomach ache. The food I had growing up was so rich, that I would have killed for easy to eat food like this. Trust me, you guys aren't missing out on much."

Everyone laughs at my comments, so I continue my roll. "The meat would be completely drenched in spices and gravy, and it was hard to eat even three bites before feeling sick. The soups were so thick and rich that the portions had to be tiny so that no one would get full before the main course. And the desserts were so sweet that it was like swallowing sugar. It was horrible."

And so we all tell stories and socialize during dinner, as is our usual. And with Saito here, it just feels even more comfortable. It's really like our days back at the dojo, and it's hard to believe that it's been over three years since then. These guys feel like family, much better than the cold and hard feelings of that horrid house that I ran away from all those years ago.

Because of his excitement and irritation, Heisuke keeps me up late talking about being out on patrol in the city. "I hate how people looked at us while we were out on patrol. We were just dealing with rogue samurai, and they looked at us like we were the ones making all the trouble." And for a couple of hours, I let him vent his frustrations and talk about his hopes for gaining fame and notoriety.

In fact, we stay up so late talking about it that Souji comes out of his room and pokes his head in. "Hey you two, shut up and go to bed." A smirk crosses his face. "And that does not mean together." And of course, he wouldn't be Souji if he didn't take the opportunity to tease Heisuke, who turns as red as a tomato.

I roll my eyes. "Souji, no one is getting that lucky, not even Heisuke." I stick my tongue out at him and retreat into my room to sleep.

* * *

We all get together in the morning, and when we hear from Ryunosuke what Serizawa said earlier, it's clear that the guy hates our guts with a passion. And that's how we get onto the topic of the Honjuu Inn, and the building that Serizawa burned down on our way here. So at Souji's urging, Heisuke tells Ryunosuke and Saito about our badly-behaved commander and how he burned down the nearby building out of spite for Kondou's booking error. The whole incident made me sick to my stomach. And it's what created the divide in our group.

Later in the day, Hijikata and Kondou bring us out into the city so that we might have the chance to volunteer to protect the shogun. What they didn't plan on was getting stuck behind a crowd and being unable to get anywhere near the shogun.

So with Kondou and Hijikata leading the chase after the shogun, we all follow suit, though I don't really have any enthusiasm for protecting some old guy. But unfortunately for Kondou, we end up on the other bridge over the river. So all we can do is watch from a distance as the shogun's procession heads toward the gathering of nobles that called him here in the first place.

We head back to Mibu and the boys get back into their training while Saito and Shinpachi go on patrol. And for a while, all is peaceful. I even do some agility exercises, since my biggest concern right now is being able to use my speed and flexibility to outmaneuver opponents without getting so much as a scratch on me.


	7. Truth Behind the Assassin

Everything goes to hell when Saito and Shinpachi get back from one of their patrols, covered in blood. And while they clean the blood from their bodies and clothes, Shinpachi tells us what happened. Apparently, the shop owner whose store the rogue samurai had fled into, stopped Shinpachi and Saito at the door and told them to go get the local police. That makes it much harder to patrol the city, if the locals themselves are working against us. And Shinpachi is really pissed off about it.

At Hijikata's request, Saito gives a more helpful analysis of the situation. With lesser sword skills, but greater numbers, the situation isn't looking good when we end up pitted against these rogue samurai.

All we have is a small group with incredible skills. All together, there would be no problem, but the patrols go on in pairs or groups of three, not all ten of us. Though I'm still feeling a little eager to finally get my turn for patrolling the city. Though Hijikata is probably hesitant because I'm a girl, and because of my skill set, there are other purposes I could serve rather than simply patrolling.

So the order becomes official, none of us are to go out alone, since it's far too dangerous. And with a petition headed to the leaders of the Aizu domain to get permission to stay as well as operate in the city, all we can do is wait. If this doesn't work, then we will have to leave Kyoto with our goals unfulfilled. And depending on Serizawa doesn't sit well with most of us, though a few of us are a bit more vocal about it.

In the meantime, all we can really do is practice in order to keep our skills sharp and our bodies in shape.

* * *

But soon, Kondou gathers us together to deliver good news. "Everyone, listen up. We've just received a letter from the lord of Aizu, the Kyoto Military Commissioner. He is going to officially place us under his charge." At that, there is quite a bit of celebrating.

"It's amazing how Serizawa-Sensei swayed the shogunate, isn't it Tounouchi-kun!" And there goes Nimi, heaping all of the praise on Serizawa. And the other lapdog agrees. "Indeed it is."

"You're overreacting." Serizawa pipes up, but I already know that he's just being smug about this. Nimi shakes his head. "Not at all, didn't he even say as much? He said he was willing to grant us permission to remain in Kyoto with you standing at the center of our corps." And lapdog number two agrees. "We couldn't have obtained such a favorable reply without you, Serizawa-dono."

"Well then, why don't we all go drink to our success at Shimabara." Serizawa gets up, and everyone is eager to get to the partying.

Of course, when Shinpachi gets dragged into going along with Serizawa, he ends up dragging us along as well. And while Kondou tries to tell them that he abstains from alcohol, Serizawa's lapdog focuses on me instead. "A delicate young lady such as yourself would find Shimabara a little unsuitable. And it wouldn't do to force alcohol on a girl. You would have trouble holding it down."

That makes me laugh, and I smirk at him. "Hmph, until you see me drink, you'll have no idea how much I can handle."

Serizawa seems to take that as a challenge. "Well then, if you feel up to it, then join us. I'm intrigued as to the source of your confidence." And that invitation is all I need to feel very comfortable, and very smug in my own right.

* * *

So we all head for Shimabara, one of the brothels in the red light district. And I get the oddest looks, since I'm obviously a girl, but obviously not a geisha. And when we go inside for a bite to eat, the geishas seem confused to see a female customer.

While everyone else eats and drinks, Serizawa gets on Souji's case for looking at him. "Hey, Okita, you've got an odd sense of taste to stare at a man after coming to the red light district."

"Not really. I'm not all that interested in fancy places like this one here." Souji's reply comes out quite smoothly.

Serizawa isn't too impressed. "Hm, then what are you doing here?"

Souji's lust for blood surfaces again, something I haven't seen in a while. "Isn't it obvious? I thought I might catch an opportune chance to cut you down if I tagged along."

That makes Serizawa laugh. He doesn't take Souji seriously at all. "Cut me down? A snot-nosed brat like you? What a great joke!" But while Serizawa laughs, the other guys get uncomfortable as they see Souji's blood lust starting to get the better of him. "Your petty threats mean absolutely nothing to me boy. Although I can't say the same for that Hijikata guy. When that man glared at me at the Honjuu Inn, even I felt chills down my spine for a second. Compared to that man, your threats to kill me sound like childish pratter. Nothing but the temper tantrum of a little boy."

"If you like, I'd be willing to seriously have at you." Souji's threats are becoming a bit more serious, prompting the need for some interference.

Saito stops Souji calmly. "Souji…"

But Serizawa latches on to Saito. "Now there's a warrior who has killed more than a few." And that observation draws stares from around the room. "Oh, he's far more imposing than you." Then Serizawa moves on to me, watching me eat, as well as downing as much alcohol as any of the guys. That catches their attention, and they all stop and stare at me.

Shinpachi lets his tongue slip first. "Ciara! How are you doing that? You don't even look tipsy, let alone drunk!"

That makes me laugh. "My ancestors have been drinking the strong wines for thousands of years. A little diluted alcohol like this isn't nearly enough to do me in. I was born to hold my liquor, though I can't say the same for the rest of you." Then I smile sweetly at Serizawa. "And besides, even if Saito has killed someone, that's nothing compared to me. I've got a bloody track record that stretches from the north end of Europe, all the way to the south. I've probably got more blood on my hands than the rest of the Roshigumi put together." And that comment sure sends a few chills through the room. Even Serizawa's lapdog looks uncomfortable.

But Serizawa isn't deterred. "A little girl like you has more blood on her hands than all of us? Just what kind of red light district are you from?"

The air goes very still as the guys all look at me. But I take the jibe in good stride. "Oh, the kind where the red light is the light shining through the pools of blood left behind by the assassins of a mercenary company." I flick my eyes to him and put down my cup, my gaze very steady. "After all, the only way to get this much blood on your hands is by being a contract killer, a killer for hire, a professional assassin who will kill almost anyone for the right price."

Saito narrows his eyes on me. "Ciara, that's enough."

I glance at Saito, then back at Serizawa. "In any case, I don't do assassinations anymore. That doesn't change the fact that I've done them, hundreds of them between the ages of ten and thirteen. You would be wise not to make light of someone who can kill in the blink of an eye."

Serizawa's gaze hardens a little, but a slight smile rests on his face. "Ah, and there it is…the aura of a cold-blooded killer."

I go back to my food as a maiko enters the room to entertain us. But it all goes to hell when Serizawa insults her, and she insults him right back. I admire her guts, but it isn't too smart for her to talk back when her adversary has a weapon. She tell him straightforwardly not to use his rank as a samurai, or his money as an excuse to act like an ass.

When the girl refuses to apologize, Ryunosuke intervenes to protect the girl. But when Serizawa sends him flying, Shinpachi and Sano run interference to allow the girl and the geisha to escape. Heisuke goes to find Hijikata, and I get to my feet. "And now, I will be returning to Mibu." I shoot Serizawa a dirty look and leave the room with my head high and my gaze steady and hard.

* * *

After a good night's sleep, I take breakfast early and go out to the pond in the back to think. And like usual, the one who comes to find me is Heisuke. I swear, he has a nose like a dog, the way he always seems to be able to sniff me out, no matter where I go.

Since I am clearly in a bad mood, Heisuke puts on a smile. "Hey, why don't we spar? You look like you could use a few rounds."

"Heisuke, I am in no mood to be swinging a sword around. Besides, in my current state, even with a wooden sword, there is a high chance that I would end up killing you." I'm honest, blunt, and right to the point with my overeager friend.

So he frowns a little, then smiles again. "Then how about hand to hand? You won't kill me that way. We can fight like we did when we were kids."

That idea appeals to me. "Alright, I'll try not to hurt you too badly." We head over to an open patch of ground and spar for a little while, which ends with both of us having many new bumps and bruises.

* * *

Hijikata surprises everyone by coming out with a strict set of rules. I have no problem with the rules that he set down, especially since I'm not one to desert a cause, or mess with someone else's money, or even fight a serious personal duel. And I'm certainly not one to go around raising funds, that isn't my job. Though the problem is with the punishment. Considering my heritage, I highly doubt that it would even be possible for me to be punished that way, since my body is inhumanly strong, and my injuries heal themselves. Though I haven't told that to anyone else, since that is the biggest secret of my past.

The guys seems a bit put off by the rules, but none of them seriously object to them. So that leaves dinner to be fairly pleasant. And it goes from pleasant to funny when Saito praises the pickled vegetables and Shinpachi goes and steals Heisuke's food. Heisuke tries to steal some of Shinpachi's food, but loses in their chopstick duel. The two of them are insufferably loud and obnoxious.

"Ryunosuke, don't let your guard down!" Heisuke's advice is good.

"Take someone else's food before they take yours!" Shinpachi's advice…not so much.

And taking that joke seriously, Ryunosuke goes and does something very stupid, he goes after Saito's food. And Saito's response to that is to point his chopsticks at Ryunosuke's throat. "If you need me for something, wait until after I'm done eating. In the world of beasts, you have no right to complain if you get killed for disrupting a stronger animal's meal. Furthermore, this is one of my favorite dishes. Never go after it."

Sano shakes his head. "You must not value your life, of all people here, I can't believe you went after Saito's food." Then he glances at me. "Although, trying to steal Ciara's food might be even more dangerous, since she hides daggers in her clothes, even at mealtime."

I glance over at Sano. "Don't go revealing all my tricks, or next time, I'm using you as a target board."

With a slight argument from Shinpachi over one of the vegetables, the topic soon turns to how Kondou, who wasn't even born into the warrior class, was strong enough to be made the heir of a dojo. He was born a farmer, but the head of the Shieikan dojo saw promise in him and made him his heir, which is how he got a foothold into the world of samurai. And upon learning that revelation, Ryunosuke turns to me. "If that's true, then what about you? You're a girl, and you can fight…so were you born into the warrior class?"

Silence rings the room, and Ryunosuke seems to realize that he went and asked a question that he shouldn't have. But when I look at everyone's faces, they look both confused and curious, as though they want to know, but don't know how to ask in a way that won't make me explode.

Since they all look so curious, I sigh and put down my food. "Divulging what I am about to tell you to anyone will result in me having to flee to somewhere far away, maybe even as far as America this time. So if you all really want to know the truth, I'll tell you. But you can't breathe a word of this to anyone for as long as you live. If you think that you can't keep this a secret, leave the room now." Their expressions tell me that shock and alarm is jumping around the room, but none of them move to leave, so I take a deep breath and smile grimly.

"This is a rather complicated story, so I guess I should start with how I ended up in Edo. That gets even more complicated, involving chartering a ship to take me here to Japan, and getting into a big fight where I killed nine people, only to be helped at the last second by Sano and Shinpachi." I glance at the two of them and a slight smile curls my lips, before fading again. "I had to flee Europe because the mercenary company that I worked as an assassin in, was slaughtered during an unpleasant encounter with one of the people who decided to come looking for me."

"My route through Europe was convoluted. I traveled all over. Italy, France, Britain, some of the eastern countries as well. But as we passed through Greece, heading towards Spain after some work opportunities in Italy, we were attacked. The reason that we were found in Greece is because I'm Greek, Greece is my home country."

I take a breath and calm myself, getting emotional will not help me to tell the story. "Alright, now comes the really complicated part. I understand that you have a hierarchal system here, so I'll explain it that way. In Greece, despite being a democratic republic, has a hierarchy of social classes. The lowest being the farmers and laborers, of course. Above them are the artisans. Above that are the merchant class. Any man from those classes is free to join the army as a normal soldier." And now it gets really specific. "Above that, the soldiers who rank higher, the captains and commanders, tend to be picked from families who have military backgrounds, some of those spanning back to over two thousand years ago. In that class, some of the women are taught to fight, and no one says anything about it. But women like that are few and far between, and they never join the military."

"Now, while there are all of those classes, I wasn't born into any of them." I take a deep breath, straightening my thoughts and cooling my head a little. "I was born into the equivalent of what you call the noble class, here in Japan. I was born into the aristocratic class, as it's called in Europe. My father is a senator in Greece's government. An elected official. Or, he was, the last time I checked. It's been years since I've seen him, so I don't know if he's still a senator. Though he probably is, since my grandfather was one as well, and my great-grandfather, so on and so forth. It's a family with a long political history."

Now, I start getting angry. "As such, until the age of ten, I was educated by a horde of teachers, all of whom attended one or more of the many universities across Europe. Math. Science. Latin. English. French. Philosophy. Countless instruments and forms of art. In short, my education is equal to the highest possible standards of education for women in Europe. But, he wouldn't have anyone teach me what interested me. The arts of war. It wasn't appropriate for someone so prestigious to be teaching his daughter such crude, unrefined, and masculine subjects. Instead, I was being educated as befitted the daughter of a senator, all for the purpose of not looking like a fool when he eventually married me off to whichever aristocrat made the best bid. Basically, I was being prettied up for whatever man bought me as a young wife. I would then be expected to bear children and play the docile housewife."

I look around at everyone with a glare. "Now, do you understand why I left? Why I ran away? If I had stayed, I would probably be married off and miserable by now, and that is not the kind of person that I want to be. And knowing my father, he probably has agents out looking for me. I doubt that he'll look this far east for me, he probably thinks that I'm still in Europe. But still, if my identity gets leaked, it won't be long before someone contacts him, hoping to get a reward for leading him to his missing daughter. And that's why I've never told anyone this story before. I would rather die than get locked into a political marriage with someone I hate."

With my explanation finished, I gulp down the rest of my food and excuse myself. And with my agitation reaching a boiling point, I decide to hide myself up a tree. I've always loved climbing trees. The green of the leaves and the smell of the wood make me feel calm. Calm enough to fall asleep right up there in the branches.


	8. Souji's First Kill

My world flips upside down quite literally when I wake up suddenly to the sound of footsteps under the tree. The sound startles me so badly that I lose my balance and fall right out of the tree. Thankfully, my creeping friend deigns to catch me, and it turns out to be Saito. He smiles slightly. "It's our turn to patrol. You're with me and Heisuke."

I end up going on a very boring day of patrolling with Heisuke and Saito. And since nothing really happens on our patrols, we end up talking most of the day away. Mostly idle chatter about the weather here, how different it is from Edo, the kinds of shops we pass by, and the size of the city. Kyoto is definitely not the same as a small town like Edo. Although, no matter its size, the short wooden buildings are sandcastles next to the monumental stone and marble architecture of my birthplace, Athens. For one, it would be much easier to burn down Kyoto, than to burn down the capital of Greece.

* * *

But when we get back to the estate for dinner, Souji is nowhere to be found. Which is strange, because no matter where he is, it's usually not too hard to track him down.

Ryunosuke gives us a lead on Souji, so we have him report to Hijikata and Kondou. But before Hijikata can give us new orders, Souji comes back, drenched in blood. It seems that Souji has finally made his first kill. I remember my first kill, a lecherous old man who sold kidnapped girls as slaves and prostitutes, a filthy person that society had no need of. And I remember the light leaving his eyes as I drove a dagger into his chest. I remember the warmth leaving his body, the slowing of his heartbeat, and the blood that trailed from his lips as his lungs ceased to bring air into his body.

* * *

A figure catches my eye, and I turn my head to see Souji. And Heisuke spots Souji just after me, and his eyes go wide. "Souji!" But Souji passes right by us and sits on the porch of the estate. "Pipe down, I told you I'm not hurt anywhere."

Hijikata, Sannan and Kondou all come rushing out to see Souji covered in blood. And his smile is a relaxed one, because his blood lust has temporarily been sated. "Hijikata-san and Hajime-kun? What's the matter? Why are you two in such a panic?"

Hijikata sees the blood and growls. "Souji, dammit, whose blood is that?"

Souji laughs. "I'll explain everything inside." He gets to his feet, eyes closed. "Could you guys let me rest for a little while? I'm tired after just killing someone."

And his words appall everyone. Everyone but me. And I have the terrible suspicion that a traitor is gone. But this situation has driven Heisuke, Sano and Shinpachi to drink, and I know that they are going to have serious headaches in the morning. For now, staying away from them is best, because when they're drinking while upset, Shinpachi gets far too touchy-feely, Heisuke starts whining, and Sano gets silently depressed. And those three are not something that I want to deal with after seeing one of my friends covered in blood.

I sit outside, staring at the sky. _Oh Souji, one of these days, that thirst for blood is going to get you in deeper than you can climb out of. Let's hope that when that happens, someone is around to pull you out, otherwise you're probably going to die._

But my thoughts are a little ironic. I know Souji pretty well by now, and because of that, I know the truth. With his personality, and his lust for blood, he's not going to live very long. He's the kind of person who ends up dying in battle, usually young, and usually in the reckless pursuit of a fight to sate his appetite for death.

But for now…a traitor is gone…


	9. Matches For Aizu

A few days after Hijikata, Kondou and the others get back from their trip to Osaka, Kondou gets everyone together to make an announcement. "Everyone, listen to this! We have been granted an audience with the lieutenant general of Aizu tomorrow. As such, all members of the Roshigumi will visit the Kyoto Military Commissioner's Headquarters."

"Awesome!" Heisuke is just itching to jump for joy. "Does that mean they've acknowledged how awesome we are?"

Shinpachi is just as excited. "What should I do? I mean, I don't have a single thing to wear!"

I roll my eyes and smile. _These guys…all such idiots sometimes._ Hijikata seems to agree with me. "Men, calm down, he's not finished talking just yet."

Kondou smiles enthusiastically. "Here's the deal. As we will be in the presence of the Aizu domain's lieutenant general, I think it would be fitting to hold some matches in his honor."

"Some matches?" Sano's eyes go wide. "Are you saying we'll get to fight before the lord of Aizu?"

Hijikata smiles. "Correct. If we've got his attention, then we should make the most of it while we can."

"And why exactly should we go through all of that trouble?" Of course, Serizawa is the one to throw a damper on the idea. Nimi backs him up. "Indeed, the Aizu domain would hardly cough up money to fund our work."

But Hijikata is undeterred. "Don't worry. You guys leave all of that hard work to us. This job isn't nearly big enough to trouble two commanders over it." Serizawa smirks, but doesn't interrupt Hijikata as he proceeds. "We've already decided who will face who. The first match will be between Heisuke and I."

That startles Heisuke. "I-I'm fighting Hijikata-san?" I glance at him, and he catches my gaze. I smirk at him, and he looks just a little worried.

"The second match will be between Shinpachi and Saito." Hijikata really picked an interesting line-up. And Shinpachi looks all good for it. "The third match will be between Sannan-san and Souji."

That gets Souji excited, he obviously didn't expect to be picked for these fights. He chuckles, and Kondou beams at him. Then, he turns his gaze onto Sano and me. "And as a special treat, I think it would be a good idea for Harada-kun and Ciara to be the final match. That should be more than enough of an end to the show for the lieutenant general."

My eyebrows nearly disappear into my hair. "You want Sano and me to fight it out?"

Sano glances at me with a grin. "Well, looks like it's me and the little lady." I smile right back at him, fire dancing in my eyes at the thought of getting to fight Sano. And of course kick his ass in front of an audience.

Nimi glares at me disapprovingly. "And what kind of fight is a little girl going to put up? Wouldn't it be kinder to find an easier opponent for her?"

My eye twitches, but Kondou just smiles. "Oh no, we decided on Harada-kun precisely because he will be a difficult opponent. Ciara should be able to have plenty of fun with him as her opponent." Kondou praises me highly, as usual, but he is still on a roll. "The Aizu domain's assessment of the Roshigumi and the support it might engender depends upon the skill displayed in the matches. Please put your heart and soul into practice."

With that in mind, everyone files out of the meeting hall, excited for tomorrow. And of course, everyone splits up to go train for the matches. I don't bother to train, rather I go and do stretching exercises for a few hours. Keeping up the strength and flexibility of my body is crucial to my style of fighting.

Time flies as we approach the matches. And first up is Heisuke against Hijikata. I already know how this is going to end, but it's still funny to see Heisuke try to outwit Hijikata. And Sano gives Ryunosuke a whispered commentary throughout the match. And though he gets hurled back, Heisuke refuses to give up until he has been utterly beaten, and has to crawl out of the ring.

Heisuke walks up to us, his eye all bruised up. "Ugh, and here I was so close…"

"Heisuke…?" Sano looks at him first, and I giggle from behind him. Heisuke looks a little bewildered, but Sano smiles. "Forget it, that was a really good match." That gets Heisuke to smile.

I stifle my laughter and reach for Heisuke's face. "You might want to get a cold towel for your eye. It's swelling up pretty bad." He reaches up to touch his eye, gingerly poking it, before running off to do something about the swelling.

Second up is Saito and Shinpachi. But Saito uses his left hand to wield a sword instead of his right, which gives him a distinct advantage over Shinpachi, as well as shocking the onlookers. But the match itself is rather straightforward, since Shinpachi dives right in, and Saito counters very quickly. They dance around a little, then break apart, lunging at each other again. And with a bit of a disappearing act, Saito slips under and around Shinpachi's guard, landing a hit to the stomach.

Last up before my match is Sannan and Souji. And though it looks like Sannan is underestimating Souji, I find myself wondering what is going to happen. I don't have to wait long, because Souji changes his stance and charges, which is a bit unlike him, ending the match in only a few seconds.

Finally, I get a chance to shine. But since Sano and I are unorthodox fighters, he will be wielding a pole instead of a wooden sword. When we step out for the onlookers to see, they start muttering in confusion. The referee is looking uncertain. "Um, sir, there appears to be a young girl on the field, and the other warrior has not yet appeared. Do you have an explanation for this?"

Kondou laughs. "Please, sit back and watch this display." Then he turns to us, taking the place of the referee. "Will the two of you please simulate a real fight? I will decide when the fight has been won, unless you both acknowledge a winner." He nods at us. "Begin!"

Sano takes up a solid stance, which is fine for him since his weapon has a long reach. My stance is more fluid, in preparation for dodging and striking. I hold my wooden sword in my right hand, but with only one hand, which I can see confuses the lord. I grin at Sano, who grins right back. "Don't hold back, Sano. If you do, you'll be feeling this for the rest of the day."

"Duly noted." With that, he takes a swing at me, aiming to knock me off my feet. But I duck down and tilt my sword up at an angle, deflecting the pole and sending it flying over my head. Because of that, he swings the pole back, but lower this time. I jump into the air and aim a lunge at his chest, which he side-steps. He jabs the pole at me repeatedly, trying to strike me in the stomach. But my superior speed and agility allow me to dodge every attempt. "Looks like you've gotten slow, Sano."

"Or you've just gotten better at dancing." He smirks, and finally, he makes a mistake. He shifts his grip and twirls his pole around, aiming to ward me off. But I switch my sword to my left hand, jab it towards him, tangling up the sword and pole, then slide in and jab at his heart with an empty fist.

At that, Kondou raises his hand. "Stop the match! The fight is over."

The lord and his retainers seem confused, so Kondou motions to Sano. "Harada-kun, would you please move your arm and show them how you lost?" Sano drops the pole and moves his arm away. I drop my own sword, but stay in the same position, showing everyone exactly where I hit him.

"Kondou-san, would you please explain this?" The lord clearly wants to know exactly what just happened.

Kondou nods and smiles proudly. "Both of them are unorthodox warriors with very different styles of fighting. Harada-kun prefers a spear to a sword. Ciara, on the other hand, uses multiple weapons in a true combat situation. She uses swords, as well as a variety of daggers and knives. Had the two of them been fighting in earnest, Harada-kun would have died from a dagger to the heart."

I pull back my hand and Sano pats me on the head. "Well done, Little Bird." That makes me smile, but so does the excited muttering coming from the retainers. And Nimi looks just a little afraid of me, while Serizawa still looks rather smug. I hate the looks on their faces, but I ignore them.

"Step forwards, I would like to see you clearly." The lord looks carefully at me, obviously curious about me. So I walk away from Sano and look up at the lord. He tilts his head, as though thinking. "How old are you? Where did you train? And what kind of training would allow you to move the way you do?"

I glance at Kondou, who nods, as though saying that it's fine to tell the lord. "I am seventeen years old. I have been training in various styles of combat and weaponry since the age of ten. I was taken in by a mercenary company, and trained there as an assassin and a spy. Being female helps in that, I am suspected less of being able to bring down a man twice my size, and I am thought of as small, weak, and less intelligent than men, which makes gathering information easy. No one expects a child, let alone a little girl, to be capable of carrying out such tasks, which is why I can hide in plain sight. However on that note, I stopped taking contracts three and a half years ago, and arrived in Edo shortly thereafter. Since then, I have been in the care of Kondou and his dojo, which is how I learned the basics of a Japanese sword, and integrated them into how I fight."

That explanation seems to satisfy the lord, but one of his retainers gets agitated. "Why would an assassin be allowed so close to the lord of Aizu?"

That irks me, but I already have a response prepared. "Because it's wise. Figures of nobility are often the targets of assassination plots for one reason or another. Therefore, it would be wise to keep one such figure around, one who can see the signs of an impending attack. And like I already said, I no longer take contracts, which means that I no longer perform assassinations, and have not in nearly four years. That does not, however, diminish my skills. I simply put them to use elsewhere."

Now, the lord gets curious. "One other thing, your appearance. Would you happen to be from the West?"

That question really gets the retainers buzzing, and it is a question that I would rather not answer, but I know that I'll have to tell them something. "Yes, I am. All of my ancestors hail from one of the most ancient parts of Europe. However, my nationality is irrelevant. I no longer claim citizenship there, or in any country. I also owe no allegiance to any faction or government body. In short, my loyalty is given to those who deserve it, and I won't give it just because it is expected of me. It is not easily won, and no amount of money, praise or fame can tempt me."

The lord continues to look at me. Then, he smiles. "I see. That is quite interesting. The look in your eyes is a good one. I hope that you will see fit to extend your loyalty to Aizu. Someone of your skills is rare. And I'm sure that no one here will underestimate you again."

I nod, and with that, I turn around, pick up my wooden sword from the ground and exit the ring. Behind the curtain, the guys all stare at me as though I'm nuts. So I bonk Heisuke on the head, since his expression is the weirdest. "Don't stare so much, otherwise I might start throwing knives around." That gets them all laughing at me, which feels good, since I prefer when they laugh.

Later on, we have a party to celebrate the good impression that we left on the lord of Aizu. And needless to say, the guys drink until their cheeks are flushed and they start acting like children. Watching them is like watching kids at a festival, all they do is laugh and joke around, and sometimes get on each other's nerves. Which is why I only stay for the food.

In the morning, everyone is excited about the blue and white jackets that consist our uniforms. And there's enough of them for all of us. Everyone gets a uniform, even me. So despite the flashiness, the uniforms have many practical purposes. I help Heisuke with straightening out his jacket, before he runs off into the yard with it, letting it flap in the breeze. And with the uniforms on, we head out into the city to do some patrolling and spread the word about our group.


	10. The Water of Life

But uneasiness sets in as we all wait one night for Hijikata, Sannan and Kondou to finish up a meeting. It's about orders from the shogunate, and that means that everyone is wondering just what the hell this is all about.

Heisuke is even more on edge than the rest of us. He fidgets and shift nervously. "They're taking forever. What do you think Kondou-san and the guys are talking about in there?"

"Orders from the shogunate, huh? Smells fishy…" Shinpachi is right, this is very suspicious. And I've got a really bad feeling about this.

"We have Isami-san and Toshi-san, they won't let things go too wrong." Inoue seems to have this unconditional faith in them. But my concerns do not lie with Kondou and Hijikata. They're with Serizawa and Nimi, those snakes.

Saito agrees with Inoue. "We should leave this in capable hands."

Souji calls out to Ryunosuke. "Ibuki-kun, shouldn't you be massaging Serizawa's shoulders?"

Ryunosuke turns around, obviously annoyed. "He said that I was to remain here until they finished talking."

A scream echoes through the air, and I'm on my feet in an instant. "And of course, something goes wrong. Like I didn't see that coming. Something always has to go wrong…" I sprint out the door, followed by the others. And we all hear terrible screams that draw us towards one of the back rooms of the estate.

Heisuke speeds up, trying to keep up with me. "What was with that scream?"

"I don't know, but it's not good!" I keep my pace up, not slowing down even for an instant. "I knew that something was going on, and now, whatever it is, it's gone wrong! But what could it be?"

Shinpachi catches up. "Something serious is going down."

So we all sprint towards the back, and Heisuke and I get there first. But find the gate locked. Heisuke pulls on it. "It won't open." We hear Hijikata and Kondou's voices inside, which makes this situation all the worse. So Shinpachi breaks down the door and we rush inside, leaving Sano to secure the front.

Heisuke and I run into the thing first. And of course, it just has to come straight for me. What we find inside seems to be more monster than human. I grabs hold of me and tries to slam me to the ground, but I wrench my arm away and jump back.

Heisuke yells at me. "Ciara! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I growl under my breath and ram my shoulder into the fiend. "Heisuke! Go for backup!" The fiend drags me to the ground and rolls me over. I give it a good kick and groan in frustration. It's a lot stronger than I expected, inhumanly strong. "Hurry!"

"No way! You're not fighting that thing alone! And the others are already on their way!" He grabs onto the fiend's clothing, getting it's attention in a big way. The things jumps off me and seizes Heisuke, driving him back against a wall.

"W-what is this damn thing?" Heisuke groans as he tries to break free.

I would help him, except that Shinpachi gets there first, slashing at the fiend and driving it away. He drives it down the hallway to where Souji is waiting. And even running it through doesn't seem to work. Souji nearly gets his head chopped off, but Saito cuts the guy's arm off instead, causing the enemy to throw Souji through some paper screens, pick up his severed arm, and flee.

I run after the fiend, with Saito hot on my heels. The fiend bursts out, throwing Shinpachi through a door, and confronts Sano, which gets him a spear in the arm. The fiend is so strong that he lifts Sano into the air using only the spear that Sano is holding. Which leaves us with only the option of surrounding him.

Heisuke arrives and I glance at him. "Cover me!" And I swing myself up onto the roof, while Heisuke watches my back. And from my high vantage point, I see the fiend rip the spear from his arm and the wound heals up almost immediately. That bodes ill for our chances, and it also means that I'm going to have to use some skills that I've kept in my back pocket for a long time.

Ryunosuke draws his sword, a foolish move. And Sano thinks so too. "Run for it Ryunosuke!" But he doesn't run, and as the fiend lunges for Ryunosuke, Hijikata rushes out and stabs the fiend in the chest. But that fiend is fast and the blade misses his heart. And the fiend starts to raise its sword again.

I yell at Hijikata. "Move back! Now!" I jump off the roof, daggers aimed straight at the fiend. Hijikata jumps back just in time and I plow into the fiend, knocking him to the ground and landing on top of him. But before the fiend can throw me off, I stab him in the chest repeatedly, then cut off his head for good measure. Blood sprays everywhere, and it drips down my face, my arms, and soaks my whole front.

Sannan and Kondou arrive, looking slightly out of breath, but mostly worried. And Kondou nods grimly at me. "Well done, Ciara. Your efficiency at going for a sure kill is as precise and deadly as ever."

I get up off the fiend and flick the blood off my daggers, though my clothes have been soaked with blood. "Well, I never thought that I would use that particular skill again. That's only ever used for bringing down the largest and strongest of targets. It's for situations where I have an overwhelming disadvantage when it comes to size or raw strength." I look at my arms distastefully. "It's been three years since the last time I was drenched in blood…I almost forgot the feeling." I start to wipe off some of the blood, coating my hands in a thick layer of red, before it drips off and soaks the ground.

The guys are all shocked by this fiend, since none of us have ever seen anything like it, not even me. And Sannan arrives with answers. "Supposedly, you can kill it by piercing its heart or by beheading it." He looks carefully at me. "And you did both. So that should make sure that it stays dead."

"Is everyone unharmed?" Now, Kondou's concern is making sure that none of us are hurt.

"Kondou-san!" Souji looks unharmed as he walks over from his corner.

Sano helps Shinpachi to his feet, and our loud friend is shocked to the core. "Dammit! What the hell was that thing?"

Finally, I notice that Ryunosuke is shaking from fear. But as Hijikata sheathes his sword, he has no sympathy for the boy. "If you lack any resolve, don't waltz out onto a battlefield."

As the body is put back together and his eyes closed, the man seems familiar. And Sano thinks so as well. "I've seen that face somewhere before, I know it."

Hijikata finally gets down to business. "Saito, Harada, sorry, but I need you to carry him inside." That's prudent, because we don't need anyone else seeing this fiasco. "Everyone, please gather in the hallway, we need to talk." He looks directly at Ryunosuke. "That includes you Ibuki. You saw him as well."

* * *

Nimi, Serizawa, and a stranger appear from around a corner. And everyone heads inside for a meeting to discuss this incident. And the stranger, a doctor by the name of Koudou Yukimura, tells us what we need to know. "It was through foreign trade that the Bakufu acquired this medicine, referred to as the Water of Life. Should you drink this, I'm sure that you'll find that your abilities on the battlefield will increase quite substantially. At the same time, you will obtain remarkable healing abilities. But on the other hand, you will lose the power of thought, along with your grasp on sanity."

"Meaning that it's not without its own peril, huh, Koudou-san?" Serizawa puts is rather lightly. This Water of Life sounds eerily familiar to me, but I can't remember where I'd heard of it before. But in short, it isn't workable yet, and frankly, I don't trust the idea of such a seemingly miraculous medicine, even if the powers can only be used in the dark.

"Indeed." The doctor agrees, which is good. "Furthermore, these powers can only be exercised in the dark. We call those who drink the medicine and exhibit such powers, Furies."

Shinpachi sighs. "The way he looked, he was definitely in a fury…"

I glance at the doctor. "Furies…is that name because of the medicine's connection to the West? There are some mythologies that come from there, which include the Furies, the demonic torturers of the Underworld. They're a myth that I'm very familiar with, as they come from my birthplace, and have been told for at least two thousand years."

He nods. "I thought that the name was appropriate. There is also the fact that the Furies go into a rage and start rampaging furiously."

Sano suddenly has an epiphany. "Now I remember. That was Iseto."

Hijikata nods. "That's right."

"Iseto?" Heisuke recognizes the name as well. "Wait! Wasn't he one of the guys who left Edo with us?"

Shinpachi is livid. "You used one of our pals to test out some crazy medicine?"

"He was supposed to commit honorable suicide for breaking the code." And of course, Nimi is the one to defend this atrocious act. "It's ultimately the same thing."

"That's no excuse." Shinpachi isn't going to let this go.

Serizawa finally breaks his silence. "The man didn't die by disembowelment, so that's the only difference."

"Serizawa-san, I am against experimenting with this type of medicine." Thank the gods for Hijikata's willingness to stand up for what he believes in, because I was so close to pounding some brains in for this act of stupidity. "When Iseto became a Fury, he didn't recognize any of us at all."

Kondou nods. "I agree wholeheartedly."

"However, according to Yukimura-dono, there is still plenty of room for improvement." Nimi pushes for the project to go ahead, bringing us to a bit of a standstill.

Hijikata sticks with his principles. "And to test it out, we would have to experiment on another person again."

"This came under orders from the shogunate!' Nimi pulls out a trump card, and I know that that will be enough to sway the argument in his favor, no matter how much the rest of us hate it.

"There is no need to obey an unreasonable order." Hijikata continues to insist against it, despite the fact that I can see that he is going to lose this battle.

Serizawa takes this opportunity to lord his status over everyone, again. "Generally, samurai consider obeying orders from above to be a virtue, even if they find the orders to be unreasonable." But despite Hijikata's protest, Serizawa remains arrogant and smug. "Although, I don't expect one not born into a warrior family to understand that logic at all."

"What was that?" Hijikata moves to say more, but Kondou stops him. "Toshi…"

Sannan decides to be the diplomatic voice her. "Considering our current standing, I feel it would be inopportune for us to ignore the will of the shogunate. But in any case, if there is still room for improvement, I feel it would be wise for Nimi-san to step down from his current position as commander and concentrate on his research so as to prevent a repeat of what just transpired. I feel that would be best for everyone involved."

Though he's been nodding the whole time, obviously thinking that Sannan was building up to praise him, Nimi suddenly registers the proposal. "What? That's absurd! I should never be asked to step down!"

But Serizawa cuts him off. "Very well." And one look from the old man cuts off all of Nimi's protests.

Sannan smiles. "Then Nimi-san and Koudou-san will conduct experiments on the medicine. I shall offer you both my assistance if needed."

* * *

We're dismissed for the night, as well as being sworn to secrecy. And with that, the meeting is over, and we all head to bed, though I wash all of the blood out of my clothes and hair first.

Once I'm changed, I hear a knock on my door. It surprises me a little, though only at first. "Ciara? Can I come in?"

 _Heisuke…?_ I drop a section of hair from my mouth, keeping the others secured between my fingers. "Sure."

The door slides open, and as soon as I see Heisuke's face, I know that something is seriously bugging him. And I don't need three guesses to figure out what.

Heisuke closes the door behind him and sits down in front of me, obviously upset. "Ciara…what do you think about that medicine…?"

I raise an eyebrow. _What brought this on? He's coming right out and saying it._ "Well, I think that it's a bad idea to be relying on something that we know nothing about. And if it has such disastrous consequences, I think that the entire project should be scrapped. Orders be damned, this is a terrible plan."

That puts a little glimmer back into his eyes. "I knew you'd agree with me!"

I sigh in frustration. "Yes, I agree with you. The problem is, the ones making the decisions do not. No matter how clear it is to us that this is a bad idea, unless the higher ups see it as well, we might as well be banging our heads against a brick wall for all the good arguing with them will do." I start going back to combing my hair. "Although, if I'm asked to have something to do with it, I'm going to tell them all to go to hell."

Heisuke blinks at me, then smiles a little. "Well, at least nothing's going to happen to you…" His smile quickly fades. "I just don't want to see any more of my friends get hurt."

He looks so upset, kind of like a kicked puppy. _He needs a little therapy…_ I hold out the comb in my hand and smile. "Hey, want to help me braid my hair? My fingers are a little cramped up."

That gets his attention fast, and he smiles again. "Okay!" He scrambles across the floor and sits himself behind me. He plucks the comb out of my hands and runs it through my hair cheerfully. "You know, it's been a while since you let me do this."

I roll my eyes. "And you pretend that you don't know why?"

He snickers a little. "You mean the time that Shinpachi tried combing your hair, and ended up cooing over how cute you were? Or do you mean the time that Souji decided to give it a try, and kept yanking on it?"

"You're forgetting Kondou and his constant comments." I shake my head slightly. "Sano isn't too bad, though he treats me like a little kid the whole time. I mean, sure, he's like a big brother and all, but I'm not twelve, I can have a serious conversation."

"What about Hajime-kun?"

I groan a little. "Tried it once. But he was silent the whole time. It freaked me out a little."

Heisuke pulls lightly on my hair, starting the braid at the nape of my neck. His fingers aren't nearly as clumsy as they used to be. Though it took me almost a month of daily lessons to teach him how not to mess up a braid.

"You know, you've got really soft hair…how do you keep it like that? I mean, you're always getting covered in dirt, or blood. But it's pretty, like a geisha's hair."

I grin a little. "Simple. There's this flower over by the river, and when you crush the petals, there's this really nice oil that comes out. I first found the flower when we were in Edo, and when I found some here, I started using it on my hair in the evenings."

I hear him sniff the air. "Huh, so that's what I was smelling. I'd ask to borrow some, but Shinpachi would tease me about smelling like a girl."

I laugh and imagine Heisuke putting flower oil in his hair. "Well, I sure wouldn't blame him. That's a funny thing to imagine."

"Not you too…" It sounds to me like he's pouting. Then he tugs on my hair. "Okay, hand that ribbon of yours over."

I smirk as I toss him back the pale green ribbon in my lap. "Be sure to tie it tight, I don't want it coming out while I'm sleeping."

"Yeah, yeah…" He fiddles with the end of my braid for a minute, and I glance over my shoulder to see him tying the ribbon neatly in a bow. "There, all done."

"Good." I pull my braid over my shoulder to inspect it. _Huh…he did a pretty good job this time._ "Heisuke…have you been practicing?"

Looking at him over my shoulder, I notice a furious blush on his face. He looks straight down at the floor, his voice barely audible. "Yeah…I practiced…"

Since he seems a bit too embarrassed, I pat him on the head. "Well, thank you." Then I smile at him. "And I see that you're feeling better. Good."

He frowns, then his eyes widen. "Wait..is that what this was about? You were trying to cheer me up?"

I nod. "Of course. Even if my fingers are cramped, I'm perfectly capable of doing my hair on my own. I just figured that you needed something to take your mind off all this crap."

He looks a little bewildered, before returning a smile. "I see…" His grin grows and he laughs a bit. "Thanks, Ciara!"

I half laugh, half sigh. "Alright. If you're feeling better now, you should go to bed. You have a patrol in the morning."

He jumps to his feet. "You're right!" He rushes to the door and pulls it open. "See you tomorrow Ciara!" And he slides it shut behind him.

His footsteps are more than loud enough for me to listen to him as he runs off towards his room. Luckily for the rest of the Roshigumi, Heisuke's room is at the other end of the estate. If it weren't, he would probably disturb everyone whenever he gets shocked, or surprised, or excited, or angry, or really anything that would make him hyper.

I lie down in my bed and blow out the candles. _Looks like things are peaceful again…for now._


	11. The Inspectors

With new recruits coming in, we all meet in the meeting hall near midday. We listen to the introductions of the new recruits, and some of them are quite interesting. Yamazaki is the most interesting to me, since he has some medical knowledge. But with all of the new recruits clear on one fact, no matter where they come from and what kind of upbringing they've had, that that will be treated as warriors, we are ready to get them into training.

Kondou picks a few people from our group to go to Osaka with him and Serizawa, including Shinpachi, Souji, Sannan and Saito, as well as a few of the recruits. That leaves Ryunosuke, Sano and Heisuke to hang out with me. And Nimi gets left behind, so he runs off with the doctor to continue the experiments. Heisuke gets assigned to watch Nimi and the doctor while Hijikata and Sano run errands.

My task is something complicated. Hijikata has assigned me to designing a regimen for training a couple of agents for more covert missions. And my experience as an assassin should come in handy for training such agents. So, I start designing a regimen of observation, stealth, disguise and practical exercises.

* * *

When the group gets back from Osaka, everyone but Souji is fuming and Serizawa is as comfortable with all of this as usual. Hijikata decides to get to the bottom of this. "Sannan-san, did something happen?"

Sannan hesitates a moment, and his tone comes out biting. "There was a scuffle with some unarmed sumo wrestlers in Osaka." Hijikata becomes a little wary as Sannan continues. "Serizawa-san, and Okita-kun, struck down the wrestlers."

That explains why everyone is so grim-faced. And I can't imagine that Hijikata is going to stay quiet about this. He's just inches from becoming furious. "They did what?"

Heisuke is shocked. "They got into a fight with unarmed sumo wrestlers? Why'd they do that?"

I shake my head sourly. "I don't know why they got into a fight. But knowing Hijikata, this is not the last we're going to hear of this…"

And like I predicted, we all meet about it later. And Kondou is noticeably upset. "If only I hadn't taken my eyes off of Serizawa-san…"

Souji isn't bothered by any of this in the least. "The two of us weren't in the wrong. Seriously, those sumo guys were the ones who came looking for a fight."

Sannan expresses his regret, quietly. "And none of us could openly defy commander Serizawa's orders."

"I don't give a shit about your excuses! So what if they picked a fight? Why the hell did you draw your sword against unarmed men!?" Hijikata, as expected, is completely livid.

"Then it's settled. I'll spill my gut for straying from the way of the warrior." Souji says it so bluntly, so callously, that I stare at him with disgust.

Everyone is shocked, especially Shinpachi. "Souji! What's gotten into you? This is no time for jokes."

"What joke? I'm dead serious." Souji's callous and unconcerned tone really bugs me. _Dead serious is right, with an emphasis on dead if you push this any further you idiot. Hijikata is livid._

Finally, Hijikata loses it. "Give it a rest Souji!" His anger is understandable, and Souji did cross the line. "Your entrails alone aren't enough to resolve this issue." And Hijikata walks off without another word. And I know that he's going to need some time to seethe, and then calm down.

And that is when I know that there is going to be a serious fight between Serizawa and Hijikata. Those two have such vastly different views of life that it amazes me that they haven't killed each other yet. My opinion stands, such a fight was unnecessary, and therefore not something I would have gotten involved with. But Souji seems far too eager to spill blood, and that unsettles me.

* * *

And so, Hijikata sends Shimada and Yamazaki to me, sending me a note ahead of time with the details of this assignment. He has made them into inspectors, and wants me to teach them some of the stealthier arts to aid in their duties. And when the two of them meet me, there is some hesitation on Yamazaki's part. He looks me up and down, frowning. "And who are you, may I ask?"

I cross my arms over my chest and smirk. "I'm your new teacher. Hijikata wants me to train the two of you in the arts that I have spent years mastering. Stealth. Espionage. Reconnaissance. These are what I will be teaching you, and what you will need to master in order to do your jobs effectively. And for that, I'll be prescribing you certain exercises, both mental and physical."

He blinks. "Hijikata-san did not inform us that our teacher would be a girl."

My eye twitches. "Well, then I suppose he also failed to tell you that I am a former assassin, spy, and mercenary?"

His eyes widen, and the other one, Shimada, bows respectfully. "I look forward to learning from you, Ciara-san. Nagakura-kun has told me many things about you."

I smirk at the thought of Shinpachi the gossip. "Well, I'd say that probably half of what he told you is true, a quarter is over-exaggerated, and a quarter is under-exaggerated. And if he told you that the first time he met me, I'd just killed nine people, defending myself, then yes, that's true. If he told you that he and Sano took down another fifteen guys after that, he's lying, there were only four left by the time I was done."

Shimada chuckles softly. "I see. Well then, I look forward to learning from you."

So I set them with a regimen of exercises so that they can learn some techniques that will aid them in rooting out spies, as well as staying undetected. Most of them constitute understanding body language and tones, detecting when people are lying or not being entirely truthful. Behavior can reveal much about a person, as can tone of voice, and word choice. They'll have to pay attention to every little detail if they want to excel at their new jobs.


	12. Rogue Fury

It has been a while since the last incident, but it seems that the experiments on the Water of Life are proceeding quickly, because we soon catch wind of another Fury running loose. And unfortunately, despite all of us converging on the scene of the disturbance from different directions, we all arrive too late to apprehend him.

I manage to arrive in time to see Ryunosuke pointing Heisuke in the direction that the Fury headed in, and I start giving chase, along with Heisuke, Ryunosuke, Shinpachi, Saito and Sano. Hijikata, Sannan and Souji stay behind to investigate the scene. And once we get outside the headquarters, we split up to search.

I race through the city, running across rooftops as I travel west. But my path yields no results for the Fury, despite the precision with which I conduct my search, and I return to the headquarters hours later. And we are all summoned to another meeting to discuss the escaped Fury. It's dawn, and none of us have slept, so we're all worn out and exhausted.

* * *

Heisuke sits in front of Hijikata, his head hung in shame, and gives his report on the Fury. Hijikata isn't very pleased. "At any rate, he's not able to move about during the day. He should be in hiding out there, somewhere. Continue your patrols throughout the day, like normal. Do not let other members catch on."

Sannan goes ahead and makes a good point. "The true race will begin once the sun sets. I shall join you all in the hunt this evening."

Heisuke presses his head to the floor in a gesture of regret and shame. "Hijikata-san, I'm sorry!" And before Ryunosuke can get more than a handful of words out, Heisuke spills everything. "I hesitated, sir! Even though he's a monster, he was once a person! He wasn't someone I would have originally killed." Heisuke is hurting, badly. But this is the life he signed up for, and now he's having trouble coming to terms with that. Not that I would wish this life on anyone. But we all chose it, no matter what we say. On the other hand, I've trailed so much blood behind me that I shouldn't even be able to sympathize. But despite that, I'm not heartless, I can feel pain over the death of someone who doesn't necessarily deserve to die.

Hijikata is grim and stern. "You do realize that hesitation could lead to even more victims? Heisuke, there will not be a second time." The warning is calm, but all the more deadly because of it. Heisuke can't fail again.

* * *

Heisuke isn't on patrols, so before he goes to get some rest, he finds me sitting out in the sun. He sits next to me and I open my eyes, glancing at him. He looks angry, and sad, and guilty. And that's not a good combination to see on his face.

He stares sullenly at the ground. "Ciara…how do you do it?" I stay silent, forcing him to address me more directly. He looks at me, pain in his eyes. "How can you kill so easily? That other Fury, you took him down in an instant. And your face was just blank, like you didn't feel anything about killing him and cutting his head off. How is it that you don't hesitate?"

I sigh and close my eyes. "I don't hesitate, because I was trained not to. I was trained to kill instantly on command, and to feel no sympathy or remorse for my victims. I was conditioned to be able to shut off all emotions that guide the conscience. I felt nothing except disgust when I killed the Fury."

"Don't you feel anything for them!?" Now, he sounds desperate for a real answer. "I know that you kill people, but you can't possibly be that heartless! You can't be…"

"That's because I'm not." I open my eyes and sit up, sighing with exasperation. I fix my gaze on him seriously. "I kill monsters. People so vile that they don't deserve to live. They've committed atrocious crimes, and would have continued to do so if it weren't for me. Getting paid was a bonus. I justify every kill like that. The world is better off without them. Less people get hurt. More innocents stay alive. I do not kill the innocent. And because of that, I can kill my enemies without mercy, while still retaining a human heart. I can hurt, I can love, I can hate, and I can care. But after years of practice, as well as my upbringing, I can suppress those emotions when it comes down to getting the job done. I am not heartless. But that does not mean that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I guard it carefully, as carefully as I guard those I care about. And that, Heisuke, is how I can kill without mercy or hesitation."

With my tirade over, his wide eyes narrow just a little. "I see…so that's it…" He becomes uncharacteristically quiet, then gets to his feet. "Thanks…" He walks away without another word, which worries me a little, but I brush it aside. I need to sleep and regain energy for the hunt tonight.

* * *

Once the sun starts setting, we head out on patrol to try to track down this rogue Fury. And I decide to hang back a little. Ryunosuke comes out of the gates, panting. "Heisuke! Please take me with you!"

Heisuke looks startled. "Ryunosuke…"

"I'm partly responsible for letting that monster get away! And couldn't you use an extra pair of eyes to help you look?"

"Yeah, but…" Heisuke is hesitant to take Ryunosuke along, and while I don't blame him, I think this is a good idea. "Got it. But in exchange, please follow my instructions. No matter what, don't do anything risky."

So, I look back at the two of them. "You two coming? That Fury isn't going to just sit around and wait for us."

Heisuke frowns. "Ciara? Shouldn't you be running around with Hajime-kun or Sano-san?"

I shake my head. "No way. You're the one who let the Fury get away, so you feel like you need to redeem yourself for that. I'm not an idiot, I know how people think, it's part of my job. So, I'm coming along to help you with that."

The scream of a woman echoes through the night air, giving us a direction to sprint in, since it's likely that she's either in trouble with men, or more likely, being attacked by our rogue Fury. I easily keep pace with Heisuke, and Ryunosuke does his best to keep up with the two of us. We run into the alleyway, and the woman is unconscious on the ground, while the Fury is standing on the roof.

"Ryunosuke, look after that lady!" Heisuke draws his sword and engages the Fury while Ryunosuke takes care of the Fury's victim. I take a position further back, in case the Fury tries to run. But there is no need, because Heisuke strikes him down, and with very little hesitation, drives a sword through the Fury's heart. The woman is alive, but unconscious. And Heisuke has blood all over him, which must be traumatic, since this is his first kill.

Ryunosuke props the woman against the wall and gets to his feet. "Heisuke, you okay?"

Heisuke pulls his sword out of the Fury and nods. "Yeah, how's the lady?"

"She just passed out." And Ryunosuke's words seem to comfort Heisuke somewhat.

"Thank god." Heisuke relaxes a little, and looks at his blood-covered hands. "Ryunosuke…I chose to walk the way of the warrior. And in doing so, I will cut down any and all who stand against my beliefs. So I'm going to continue to kill, and kill, and kill forever." He sounds like he's about to break down and cry, but he manages to keep it together. "But I'll never be able…to grow accustomed to it." I approve of his last words, but it hurts me to see him make his first kill. The first is always the hardest.  
I walk over to Heisuke and pat him on the shoulder. "We should get back, the others are going to be expecting a report on the state of the Fury. We should tell them that there were no extra fatalities tonight."

He nods. "Yeah…and I need to wash all this blood off…"

I sigh sadly, feeling bad for him. "You did what you had to. I would have killed it instead, but your pride would never have recovered. I decided to allow you to get that blood on your hands for the sake of your pride. But if I had seen another way, I would have spared you this memory."

"Thanks…" He becomes quiet and solemn, and remains that way the whole way back to headquarters. And I don't blame him, this was a difficult night for everyone.


	13. Wolves of Mibu

**Sorry for taking so long. The semester just started back up, and it's been homework and quizzes from day one. On the bright side, I only have two pieces of homework due by tomorrow, one for Tuesday, and one for Thursday. So it's starting to slow down a little.**

 **I've also reworked the chapters just a little, mostly correcting spelling mistakes. But I have added a little bit of...well I don't know if I would call it fluff, but I don't know what comes before that. So, added a little of that into the last few chapters. Now, I've actually got direction and motivation. So, let's go!**

* * *

A few nights later is yet another Fury attack, though this one gets skewered by Saito while the rest of us run around chasing it. Nimi's experimemts are getting out of hand. This is the third Fury that we've had to deal with. And it's only a matter of time until one of them manages to get far enough away to start killing people.

I see Saito after his meeting with Hijikata. And the look on his face is sterner than usual. "Saito? What's wrong?" I approach cautiously, unsure of his current temperament.

He glances at me. "I am off to Osaka. There are orders to put the Fury's head on display there."  
I cringe at the thought of putting someone's head on a pike, even though it's a longstanding tradition around the Mediterranean. "Serizawa gave the order, didn't he?"

Saito nods. "I presume so."

I glare angrily into thin air. "Why can't that man get his own lackeys to carry out his obscene orders? This is going to come back to bite us in the ass, I just know it. And if that man can't see it, then he's a fool."

"A bad reputation is better than no reputation at all…" Saito's voice is empty, which tells me that he's repeating the reasoning behind this atrocious act. "That is what Serizawa said to Hijikata-san when he protested."

"Of course…" This does not sit well with me, but unfortunately, I'm in no position to do anything about it. But as Saito is leaving soon, I give him the best smile I can muster. "Be safe on your way to and from Osaka."

Saito looks at me, and I see traces of one of his rare smiles. "Of course."

I watch him leave with Shimada and Yamazaki, knowing full well that this is only going to make things more difficult for us in the days ahead. Someday, I will see Serizawa in a pool of his own blood. I will not allow him to get away with this forever.

A day after Saito returns, Heisuke pulls him out of training the new recruits. "Hajime-kun, it's just about time for patrol duty.

"Ah, right." He turns to the recruits, who are still swinging wooden swords through the air. "That is all for now."

* * *

After the recruits file away, Saito gets himself dressed in his uniform, and the three of us head out into the city to do our rounds. But as we pass by people in the streets, the muttering is less than pleasant.

"Ugh, look, it's the Wolves of Mibu."

"I heard they put a rogue samurai's head on display."

"In Osaka!"

"How frightening!"

And while the comments don't seem to perturb Saito at all, Heisuke's head droops, and he almost looks like he's going to cry. So I grab his hand and squeeze it. "Don't let it get to you, Heisuke."

"Yeah…I know…" And despite saying that, it sure looks like he's letting it get to him. Not that I blame him, since he's not used to being looked at like that. I'm pretty used to it. Being a female assassin used to get me some pretty creative insults whenever I was about to kill someone.

* * *

When we get back, Heisuke trudges off alone to the back garden. He goes there whenever he needs to think. I drop my uniform off in my room before following him back there.

And I find him sitting there, right next to the pond, staring into the water at his own reflection. I sneak up on him, until I'm close enough to pounce on him without him realizing it until I'm leaning on his shoulders. Though I dig my knees into the ground to prevent him from falling forwards into the water.

His alarm is evident in his voice. "Ciara? What the hell? What are you doing? You could have knocked me into the pond!"

I snicker a little. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm balanced enough to not let you fall in. Besides, if you had fallen in, I probably would have fallen in with you."

Surprisingly, he quickly lets it drop. "What are you doing here…?"

I rest my chin on his ponytail and rub his shoulders with my elbows. "Well, you looked like you could use a friend. You've been looking pretty depressed ever since we heard those people talking shit about us on patrol. Do you want to talk about it?"

He gives a distinctly unhappy sigh, and leans his head back a little. "I just hate what they're calling us…they really hate us. We didn't come here to be hated by the people we're trying to protect. What's the point of protecting them if they're just going to hate us for it?"

I mull over his question, trying to come up with an answer. "Well…I don't think it matters whether they like us or not. They're not the ones I'm here to protect." A small smile crosses my face. "I'm here to protect all of you guys."

Heisuke shifts a little, and I can already tell he's pouting. "Hey…I don't need you to protect me. I should be the one trying to protect you!"

I snicker a little. "Well, if you want to do that, then you might want to polish those skills of yours. Because you can't really protect me if I'm the one covering for you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" But it sounds to me like he's finally starting to cheer up. Or, he's at least dwelling less on things he can't change, and focusing on the things he can.

* * *

And speaking of things that can change, I sit around with Heisuke, Sano and Shinpachi, as we watch Ryunosuke getting some basic lessons in swordplay from Saito. I sit in front of Sano and lean back, using his shins as something of a chair as I watch the ensuing hilarity.

But Heisuke just doesn't understand what's going on. "There's no need for Saito to teach Ryunosuke swordsmanship."

"Why not? He finally decided to learn it." Shinpachi sounds a little bored, but at least he's not poking fun.

Sano is far more sympathetic. "That's right. If Ryunosuke is trying to change, why don't we let him?"

I grin as I watch Ryunosuke trying to go through the basic stances. "If nothing else, it's good exercise."

Heisuke's eyes drift to me at that comment. "Speaking of exercise, I'm bored. Wanna go spar?"

I grin and jump to my feet. "You know it!"

Heisuke jumps up as well, and takes off towards the other side of the estate, where we like to run away to for private sparring. I laugh and chase after him, following him all the way to our secret little practice ground.

He heads to the deck, and pulls a couple of wooden swords out. "Here, catch!" He tosses one at me, and I catch it in my left hand, before spinning it in a circle, switching hands, and holding it behind me in a ready position.

"Ready, Heisuke?" I grin, and bend my knees a little, ready to spring into action at any moment.

He grins right back, holding his sword out in front of him. "Of course."

I watch him carefully, waiting for an opening. Depending on which of us moves first, the mistakes that might be made can vary. If Heisuke goes first, he might move too early, or give away his plan ahead of time. And if I go first, the fight will be over too quickly, and the whole point of sparring will be lost.

This time, however, Heisuke doesn't make a mistake. His timing is perfect as he brings the wooden sword down towards my head. Luckily for me, I'm even faster than he is, and I raise my sword to block it in time. I smirk a little at Heisuke. "You're going to have to be faster and trickier than that if you want to finally beat me."

He shoots me a determined smile. "Well, then I'll work hard until one of these days, I can beat you."

His confident assertion warms my heart. _Well, I can't promise that you'll ever be able to beat me. But if this gives you the motivation to get stronger, then who am I to shoot down that hope?_ I level my sword at him, ready to strike again. "Then prepare yourself, because that day is not today."

* * *

A while after me and Heisuke finish with our sparring match, which I won, again, Hijikata and Sannan return from their patrol, covered in blood. So we congregate in the kitchen, so that they can wash the blood off, and tell us what the hell happened out there. And I'm not far from snapping, if the situation gets much worse.

Kondou's main concern seems to be for their health. "What happened Toshi? Sannan-kun?"

Hijikata goes about scrubbing the blood off his uniform. "Sorry, we ran into some thugs using the Roshigumi name to forcibly borrow money. It turned into a sword fight, but they got away."

Souji isn't impressed. "Huh, Hijikata-san, Sannan-san, it's unusual for you to let scum get away."

Sannan offers an explanation. "The ones we fought…had friends hiding nearby. " And he looks ashamed of himself as he turns to Kondou. "I'm sorry sir, it was our fault."

"No, it couldn't be helped." Kondou is very forgiving, and it's no wonder, it's not as though two people are usually well equipped to deal with a larger group.

But Sano spots the problem. "So, there are some guys using the Roshigumi name to steal money."

"And here they were calling themselves imperial loyalists until recently."And Shinpachi is quick to point out the ironic hypocrisy.

Sannan looks rather grim. "I'm sorry. But that simply goes to show how far the Roshigumi's reputation has dropped."

"You think putting that head on display had the opposite effect we were going for?" Clearly, Heisuke is still very bothered by everything that's been going on lately. And frankly, I can't blame him.

I glance at Heisuke and nod. "Clearly. I knew this was a bad idea from the start. An order like that…goes beyond unreasonable. It's downright inhumane."

No one says a thing, though I'm sure that they're all running through whether or not they think that it was the wrong thing to do. Finally, Souji speaks up. "That man…has been out of hand lately."

"If the Roshigumi develops a poor reputation, it could injure the Aizu domain's good name." Sannan makes a very good political point. "We cannot allow things to continue as they have."

 _No…we certainly cannot._


	14. Osaka

Finally, I get my chance to get out of Kyoto and accompany Hijikata and Kondou to Osaka with Saito, Shinpachi and Souji. And after some walking around, Kondou decides to split up the group, addressing Serizawa outside the geisha house. "Well then, Serizawa-san, we have other errands to attend to, so if you'll pardon us."

"Of course, that's fine." Serizawa looks completely unfazed by this, probably because he intends to drink himself half into a stupor by evening. Though I hate being around Serizawa, and I pity Ryunosuke and Shinpachi, who end up having to accompany Serizawa. I end up going on errands with Hijikata and the rest, which definitely beats going stir-crazy in Kyoto.

* * *

Saito and I go looking around for some supplies in the market, since that's just one of the many errands on the list today. So after splitting off from the group, we head into the main market street.

I look around happily, fascinated by some of the pieces for sale. "Wow, they've really got a lot of ornaments for women's hair."

"Indeed." Saito's eyes follow the direction of my own eyes. "Most women here put their hair up with such ornaments. You seem to be a rare exception."

"Yeah, well that's probably because I barely have time to brush and tie up my hair, let alone put it up the way they do."But suddenly I spot what I'm looking for. "Ah, that looks like a medicine shop. We should be able to find what Yamazaki needs there."

Saito follows me into the store silently. And I do most of the looking around, since he's not well-versed in medicine. The owner of the shop approaches me hesitantly. "May I help you, Miss?"

I turn to him and nod. "Yes, I'm looking for all of the items listed here." I take a note out of my pocket and hand it to him. "And if you have half a dozen small jars, those would also be something I'm interested in purchasing."

He nods, and begins pulling small packages and bottles off shelves. "Are you here with your retainer, Miss?"

The question surprises me, and I glance back at Saito, who nods almost imperceptibly. "You could say that. We're trying to keep a low profile as we run errands. It's best not to draw undue attention. Wouldn't you say so?"

The shopkeeper nods. "Prudent indeed." He finishes gathering up the items and places them on the counter in front of me. "Here is everything you requested."

I nod to him and place the money for the medicines and herbs on the counter. Then I turn to Saito. "Will you help me carry it? I doubt that I could carry it by myself." We both know that's a lie, but it's best not to make the shopkeeper suspicious.

He nods silently and picks up the larger of the baskets. I pick up the smaller one, and the shopkeeper bows as we leave the shop. With our particular errand now finished, we head back towards the inn, whee we're to meet up with the others once all of the errands are complete.

* * *

Long after everyone has returned, Ryunosuke bursts in on us while we're all having dinner. "Kondou-san! Hijikata-san! Come quickly! Serizawa-san is going crazy in the red-light district!"

Immediately, Hijikata and Kondou jump to their feet. And they aren't the only ones, because I'm on my feet in a flash as well. "I'm coming too!"

Hijikata shakes his head and frowns. "No, stay here. We can handle this."

I growl in my anger. "If he's terrorizing women again, then I'm not going to just sit back and let him do as he pleases!" I turn to Ryunosuke. "Lead the way!"

I ignore any further protests, and I follow Ryunosuke out of the inn and back towards the red-light district, followed closely by Hijikata and Kondou.

We arrive at the establishment and find Serizawa inside one of the rooms. Shinpachi looks relieved to see us "Hijikata-san!"

But Serizawa is more focused on his prey than on us. "If they were men, I would have their heads. But since they are women, I will settle for their hair instead."

"You'll what?" Ryunosuke sounds shocked, and I can see his hands shaking, probably from anger.

That pisses me off royally, but Hijikata beats me to the exclamation. "Serizawa-san!"

The geisha start crying, and one of them raises her head."If you do that, we wouldn't be able to entertain our customers from tomorrow, forward."

"You have but your own foolishness for insulting a warrior to blame."

Ryunosuke decides to run interference. "Hold it, Serizawa-san! You're the one who insulted them first by telling them to strip."

Serizawa, clearly drunk out of his mind, punches Ryunosuke across the room and through a paper screen. "Silence!"

That makes me even angrier, and I try to push past Hijikata to get at Serizawa, but Kondou holds me back. "Wait, Ciara. You might only make the situation worse." Then he turns to Serizawa. "Serizawa-san! Wasn't this supposed to be a party? There is no need to get so livid."

But Serizawa just won't listen. "Mongrel, you will do it." He's ordering Ryunosuke to do the dirty work and torment the geisha for him. "That shall be your punishment for opposing your master."

But Ryunosuke won't get up. "To hell with that, there's no way I would ever do that."

"Is that right? Then I'll do it for you." Serizawa turns back to the geisha. "But since I'm drunk, I might inadvertently cut off their heads instead of their hair since my hand is not steady."

I finally lose my temper, and it's not a pretty sight. I push past Hijikata and Kondou and enter the room, my eyes blazing with rage. "Oi! Stop being such an ass to the geisha! They've done nothing wrong, and here you are, acting like you can order them about as you please, no matter how indecent the request! You're a pig and you make me sick! How someone like you ever became a warrior is beyond me!"

Kondou holds me back by the arm. "Ciara, please calm yourself." He turns to Serizawa apologetically. "Please forgive her outburst, she can become very outspoken at times."

Serizawa turns to me with a smirk. "Outspoken indeed. In that case, would you offer yourself to me in their place? It might do you some good to finally be taught discipline. A woman who fights is nothing more than an eyesore."

 _I am going to kill this man. I am going to fucking kill him._ I reach for one of my knives, more than willing to follow through on that murderous thought, and to be fair, I'm actually rather eager to kill this man for his gall and impudence. He has no idea who he's talking to. If he did, he might not be so quick to resort to insults.

But Hijikata intervenes, pulling me backwards and muttering to me under his breath. "Ciara, if you allow him to goad you, you will only undermine everything that I did to fight for your place in the Roshigumi. You will cause more problems than you will solve if you spill his blood here. Stay out of this." And he turns to Serizawa sternly. "You'll be satisfied if we sever their chignons, Serizawa-san?"He glances sternly at Ryunosuke, clenching his fist in frustration. "I'll do it."

Ryunosuke exclaims, and Shinpachi looks horrified. "Hijikata-san!" And Kondou is just as shocked. "Toshi!"

Serizawa is simply amused. "Very well, this should make for some nice entertainment."

The first of the geisha cries and pleads with Hijikata. "Please, forgive me. I truly regret what I said, so please…please forgive me, please forgive me." And her cries and pleading continue until Hijikata finishes cutting off her long hair.

It's not anger I feel, or even fury. I am well past that, I am livid. And I watch in disgust and rage as the second geisha loses her long hair as well. I don't blame Hijikata much, but I turn my gaze on Serizawa in my fury. "You had best watch your back from now on. I cannot promise that you will not find a dagger buried in it!" I spit out the words like snake venom, and I look away from him, too angry to continue looking at the monster.

"Hm…what murderous eyes, an unfit expression for a little girl. I wonder how many men have seen those and lived to tell about it." His sneer is obvious as I turn away. "Will I be the first?"

I clench my fists and slide my knife back into its sheath. "Indeed you are. Before you, no man had survived my fury. Be thankful that I have respect for Hijikata and Kondou. Without that, you would now be lying on the floor in a spreading pool of your own cursed blood. If you want to see how murderous I can be, do this again. Do something, anything that sends me into a rage, and you will live just long enough to see me pull out your entrails and make them into a necklace for you."

* * *

I storm out, and head back to Kyoto before everyone else. When I get back to the headquarters, the guys immediately know to steer clear of me. My expression must be pretty scary, because none of them even make an attempt to ask me what happened. But before I go to my room, I turn to them with eyes full of rage. "If you want to know what happened, ask Shinpachi. If I have to retell it, I'm liable to kill someone."

The guys look at me like they don't even recognize me. And while most days, that might hurt my feelings, today I don't care. This is part of who I am, my anger is a part of me. All I can do is shut myself in my room and try to spare them the hassle of having to deal with me while I'm like this.


	15. Casualties

I spend the next few days lounging around and fuming. I can't even go out on patrol, because I'm ready to explode at any moment. Usually I can stay cool and collected, but my temper is volatile when I run out of patience. And right now, I have no patience for anything.

But what draws me out of my isolation, is the sound of a Fury raging through the compound. I get out of bed and arm myself, before running out of my room and climbing onto the roof.

 _Now…if I were a Fury, where would I go? The other Furies didn't seem to have much of a goal, they wandered kind of aimlessly, attacking anyone in sight. But why do they attack people…? What is their goal? Is it conscious, or instinctual?_

No matter what the case may be, we can't just let this Fury run loose. And it looks like I'm not the only one planning to go on the hunt. Everyone's gotten up for this. Heisuke and Sano, Shinpachi and Saito, Souji and Sannan, even Hijikata and Inoue.

I take off along the rooftops, hoping to catch sight of the Fury before anyone else. These Furies are exceptionally strong, which means that with my own special talents, I should be the one most likely to be able to bring this monster down.

Running across rooftops, I leave the confines of the estate, and keep my eyes and ears peeled for any sign of the Fury. And whether that be the sign of an attack, or the sound of its voice, I have to find a clue, and follow it to the Fury before anyone else gets hurt.

* * *

About fifteen minutes into my search, I hear a scream. It's far away, but I can tell which direction it's coming from. I speed up my steps, sprinting and leaping across the rooftops, heading for the source of the scream.

The screaming stops, losing me my orientation. Until I hear the sounds of swords, which returns my bearings. I try to get there as quickly as I can, and from what I can tell, I'm the only one in this area. Which means that if it comes down to fighting it, it's all going to be up to me.

The sound of swords dies down, which means that the battle is over. But there could be someone wounded, and if the Fury is dead, his body will need to be retrieved. So I hop across the last few rooftops, and drop down into an alley, where I heard the scream coming from.

A feral growling assaults my ears, and the faint sound of scuffling is down at the other end of the alley. The faint outline of a crouched figure appears on a rooftop down about fifty feet away, before disappearing into nothing.

 _Dammit, the Fury is gone!_ I look around the alley, hoping to find a clue, but there's not much to find, especially in the dark. But most importantly, I smell blood. I cut a lantern down from one of the nearby shops, and make my way back down the alley.

About thirty feet down the alley, I come across a horrific sight. Sasaki, one of the other members of the Roshigumi, is lying on the ground, pale and dead. I reach down and check for a pulse, finding nothing. Cold and dead. But colder than he should be, considering that this blood is fresh. I check around his face and arms, and come to a startling conclusion. _There's not enough blood…his blood's been drained out. But how…?_

I look up at the roof where the Fury disappeared from. _Could it be…? Do Furies drink human blood?_ It's preposterous, but it would answer a few questions, including why Sasaki and the woman have been drained of blood, as well as why the Furies attack people.

I climb up onto the rooftop, and look around for the Fury. But it looks like it's long gone. So I wave the lantern around, hoping that Shimada and Yamazaki will see it. They should be on the lookout for a signal from one of us. But unfortunately, I do not have good news for them.

Half an hour later, Yamazaki and Shimada finally arrive at my location, and I drop down from the roof to meet them. "Good, you're here. We've got a situation." I gesture to the two bodies lying in the alley. "The Fury was already escaping by the time I got here. I found these two…they're dead."

Shimada looks over my shoulder. "I see…then we should take them back with us."

I nod. "Yes, because there's something else. Something that I need to report to Hijikata. This whole situation just got a lot more complicated."

Leaving the cleanup to Shimada and Yamazaki, I return to headquarters to give my report to Hijikata, who sits very still the whole way through. And when I finish relaying all of the details to him, he nods grimly. "Then we should inform the others. This situation has just become much more serious."

* * *

Hijikata calls that meeting to tell everyone what I found out. And his face is extraordinarily grim. "Fellow corps member Sasaki was killed at Suzaku no Senpon way, with a woman. We believe that the culprit was Saiki, who has become a Fury." All of this is met with incredulity, shock, and a mild amount of horror.

Heisuke looks worried. "Got any proof?"

Sannan continues the report. "The locals have been talking about hearing animal-like growls all night. Furthermore, there was hardly any blood left in the corpses."

"He drank their blood." Shinpachi sounds repulsed by the thought. "That's messed up."

Hijikata then glances at me. "The bodies were found by Ciara, but she was unable to continue the pursuit, as he seemed to disappear into thin air."

I nod. "It was…disgusting, to say the least. But yes, the bodies were, for the most part, drained of blood. I was slowed down by the fact that they were hidden in a dark alley, and the echoes of the screams were muffled and misdirected by the close walls of the shops. By the time I got there, all I could see was the Fury taking off from a rooftop, and Sasaki and the woman lying on the ground. I investigated, hoping to find them alive, but there was no pulse, and their blood was drained. Though right next to Sasaki, I found his sword, drawn."

Saito looks at me carefully. "Then it stands to reason that he died, protecting that woman."

Sano looks a little sad. "He protected his woman, didn't he? Right up until the very end."

I nod. "It seems that he did. And if it were a rogue samurai, he might have won. But alone against a Fury…he stood no chance."

Hijikata coughs, demanding our attention again. "We must find Saiki as soon as possible, and kill him."

"I would like you to split up and begin searching for him right away." Kondou hands out the night's orders, while Sannan hands out the assignments.

Unfortunately for me, I get assigned to stay at the estate, and keep a lookout for Saiki, in case he shows back up near the Roshigumi's headquarters.

All night, and for several nights in a row, the search drags on. Eventually, Yamazaki gets a lead and we all rush towards Shimabara, intent on dealing with the Fury. But by the time we get there, Souji has already killed the fury. Seeing all the blood actually calms me a bit, especially since I've been thirsting for blood lately. But the pressing matters are that these furies are getting dangerous, and now we have casualties to deal with.


	16. Ire

On another note, the Roshigumi is hosting a sumo tournament to bolster our popularity and add to our funds. But best of all, it's quite entertaining to watch huge fat guys wrestle. They roll around like buns in a bakery. Though I watch from the roof, since I like having aerial views of the crowd as well. And poor Heisuke gets dragged away from the crowd by Shinpachi, making him miss the end of the bout.

I glance down at them, a little amused. _And to think, Shinpachi is usually the one trying to be the life of the party, not ruin it. Wonder what's twisting up his obi…?_

Once all the activities are done for the day, and the organizers start cleaning up, I hop down from the roof to join the others. And Shinpachi looks like he's feeling good. "So that's a wrap."

And with the fun over, Hijikata gets back into business mode. "We're heading back."

However, a distraction comes in the form of Yamazaki. "Vice-Commander!" He runs up to Hjiikata, a sense of urgency about him. "I wish to report something to you immediately." He whispers something into Hijikata's ear. And judging by the expression on Hijikata's face, this can't possibly be good.

"Gentlemen, we're leaving." Hijikata turns to me. "Ciara, you go back to headquarters. The last thing I need to deal with is you losing your temper and going into a rage."

That disturbs me greatly. "Hijikata, what's going on?"

Souji is interested as well. "Is there some kind of problem?"

Hijikata puts on a sour face. "Serizawa-san has pulled another one of his stunts."

My eyes go wide, and then suddenly go cold. "I understand…I will return to the estate and wait for all of you to return." I walk past Hijikata, pausing only for a moment. "Don't make me regret acquiescing to your request."

* * *

I leave them behind, heading back to the estate, and ignoring the fact that somewhere out there, Serizawa is terrorizing another poor citizen. I hate that man, and earning my ire is something very difficult to do.

After everyone returns and gets some sleep, Hijikata calls for a meeting. I skip the meeting, since the last thing I want to hear is the details of what Serizawa did. I'm barely controlling myself as is. The last thing I need is that one detail, that one little piece of information, that will finally make me stop caring about decorum and respect and hierarchy, and compel me to kill Serizawa in cold blood.

As I sit out in the back garden, I stare at my own reflection in the pond. _How long…how much longer is it going to be before Serizawa finally croaks? Because if he doesn't roll over and die soon, our situation is only going to get exponentially worse._

Suddenly, a pair of hands cover my eyes, and a very familiar voice rings out behind me. "Guess who!"

I roll my eyes, unseen to this silly boy. "I know it's you Heisuke. Seriously, if you want this trick to actually work, you have to disguise your voice. It's got a higher pitch than anyone else's, and you're louder than everyone else as well."

He removes his hands and sits next to me, pouting. "You know, sometimes you're just no fun."

I grit my teeth and try not to snap at him. "You know perfectly well why I'm not in a good mood right now." I huff impatiently and throw a rock into the water, destroying my reflection. "So, what happened in the meeting?"

He sighs and tosses a rock up and down in his palm. "Not a whole lot. We just went over the details of what happened last night. We all hate this situation…" He tosses the rock into the water with a little too much force, causing a moderately sized splash that nearly wets my hair. "There's nothing that you want to hear. Except maybe that Hajime-kun said way more than he usually does. He's really not happy with what's been going on."

I nod slowly. "If Saito's talking, then he obviously isn't happy. He only starts talking when he's either relaxed, or furious."

Heisuke fidgets a little. "Do you want to hear about what happened?"

"No." I shake my head, clenching my fists in order to stay calm. "If I hear about what happened, I'll probably lose it and do something serious. I'm already so close to throttling that guy, that one more thing, just one more, and I'm going to go ahead and do what I want, no matter what anyone else says."

"I know how you feel, but…" Heisuke squeezes my arm, doing his best to keep my attention. "You can't just go around killing people because you don't like them!"

I glance at him, then back into the water of the calming pond. "It wouldn't be just because I don't like him. That man is a menace to society, and everyone would be better off without him."

"Ciara, you can't!"

I turn to glare at Heisuke, angry at his insistence. "You don't get it. I've killed people like him! Over and over! I don't know how much of what I've said that you believe, but listen to me when I tell you this. My assassination missions were all men like him. Greedy, pompous, arrogant men who destroyed everything around them with no regard for anyone else. Every single one of them was a menace to their society, and every one of them deserved to die. This isn't just because I hate him, it's because he fits my assassination criteria."

Heisuke's eyes go wide, and he drops his hand. He's quiet for a minute, before speaking in a hushed tone. "You know…you never really talk about what happened before Sano-san and Shinpachi brought you to the Shiei hall."

I see what he's getting at, and I sniff angrily. "Well, that's because it's not something I really like to talk about. Besides, the details are a bit gruesome to be talking about over dinner." I lean back and lie down in the grass, letting my toes dip into the pond. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, how about what you did? I mean, you weren't just killing people, right?"

He's got a point, I wasn't just running around killing people left and right. "Well, assassination was what I did the most of, but I had other jobs. I was trained for infiltration, sabotage, and espionage. Though most of the times that I went on those kinds of jobs, they ended in an assassination anyway. Try to understand, I was trained for a particular job. I was too young, and too small to take part in large battles. The older mercenaries did, and they fought in battles, even in wars. But I was just a kid for the three years I was with them. So battles weren't exactly something that they allowed me to take part in."

"I see." He relaxes a little, as though relieved. "So, what kind of people hired you?"

I start listing them off on my fingers. "Merchants, nobles, government figures, I think we were hired by a king a few times. Basically, anyone who could pay us for our services, and who wasn't too shady. We had standards too, we wouldn't work for just anyone."

Heisuke's eyes go wide. "Really? I thought that mercenaries would work for anyone."

I shake my head. "No, mercenaries have their own codes of honor, and abide by certain rules on the battlefield as well. If we didn't, then we would all end up killing each other off in one huge bloodbath. No, we're smarter than that."

Heisuke frowns a little, and I could swear that he looks hurt. "How long are you going to keep talking like you're still one of them? You left that behind a long time ago."

 _So that's it…_ I gaze into the water, remembering the people I lost. "I didn't leave it willingly. But…you're right. I'm not a mercenary anymore. My lessons served me well, but it's time for me to put to rest the memories of the family I lost all those years ago."

Heisuke suddenly looks a little guilty, but he puts a smile on his face anyway. "Yeah, you've got us now. And I don't think they would want you to obsess over them forever."

I smile wryly. "You're right, I've just been reluctant to let go." I get to my feet and stretch out my arms. "I'll keep those memories in my heart. But I'm a member of the Roshigumi now. I've got to keep moving forwards. Right?" I glance at Heisuke, a mischievous sparkle in my eye.

He grins right back at me. "Right!"

 _Maybe today won't be so bad after all…_ My ire is all but gone.


	17. Shinsengumi

Just before dawn, the day after Kondou and Hijikata get back from a meeting with the representative of the Lord of Aizu, I hear the sounds of cannons. I get out of bed immediately, and head straight for the meeting room.

There, I run into Heisuke and Sano. Heisuke looks at me, very worried. "Ciara, did you hear that?"

I nod. "Sounded to me like cannon fire. But I didn't know that there were cannons here. I thought that trading with foreigners was frowned upon."

"Well…some of the factions can walk a pretty fuzzy line when it comes to foreign trade." Sano looks out at the sky, clearly a little unnerved. "In any case, it sounded like it was coming from the direction of the imperial palace. And that can't be good."

Hjikata arrives in the meeting hall, looking very stern. "Good, the three of you are already here. I've called a meeting. Everyone else should be here in a few minutes."

I sigh quietly. _What a thing to wake up to in the morning. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if cannonballs started flying right through the walls of the estate._ "Well, I'm sure that there will be plenty to talk about."

"Indeed." Hijikata takes his place at the head of the room, leaving places for Sannan, Kondou, Nimi, and Serizawa.

Meanwhile, Sano, Heisuke, and I take our places facing them. And as the other members file in and take their seats, I can tell that there's fear running through them. _These people aren't used to hearing the sounds of cannon fire. No wonder they're all so on edge._

Once Serizawa finally arrives, he looks around the room. "Everyone is present?"

"Of course, everyone is here. Every single soldier is present and accounted for." Hijikata seems rather anxious to get down to business, his responses are even more curt than usual.

Sannan looks a little anxious as well. "The roar of artillery seems to have come from the imperial palace."

"Say, shouldn't we be heading over there to fight or something?" Shinpachi's question gets all of the men stirring.

"No. Aizu has not yet issued orders for us to mobilize." Sannan takes the logical road, cautious, but a little slow for me. "We should avoid acting without direction."

Hijikata takes over again. "Yamazaki and Shimada have already left to investigate. We're on standby until we receive the orders."

* * *

But soon enough, Yamazaki and Shimada return, bearing troubling news. Yamazaki takes it upon himself to deliver it. "After observing the situation close to the imperial palace, we have determined that Satsuma has joined Aizu in guarding the Sakamachi Gate."

"What? Aizu and Satsuma are guarding the Sakamachi Gate?" This seems to stun Hijikata. And from the tone of his voice, I gather that Satsuma is a rival of Aizu's.

After some exclamations, Sannan adds to the mystery. "I believe that post was originally guarded by the Choshuu domain."

Shimada corroborates Sannan's information. "Right. The Choshuu domain is looking for any opportunity to enter the palace. But Aizu and Satsuma are not letting them take a step inside."

"The situation is volatile. I fear battle could break out at any moment." And with that, Yamazaki finishes up the report. And that gets the men all in a stir. The energy in the room is tense and strained. Some are eager to go into battle, and some are dreading it.

Hijikata seems a bit confused. "But why? I don't understand why the feuding Aizu and Satsuma domains are teaming up."

"Hm…it is beyond me." And Kondou seems just as bewildered.

Serizawa scoffs. "It merely means that this savage world is not as simple as the workings of your less than crafty minds." Obviously, he is looking to take the chance to lord his superiority over everyone with his knowledge of politics, because both his words and tone of voice are highly condescending.

Hijikata takes offense immediately. "What was that?"

Since I don't want Serizawa to start gloating, I cut him off. "I may not know much about the old rivalries between the various clans, but if it's politics and war, that's something I do know. Judging by the reaction to the information, I'd say that the situation is going like this. It's a political maneuver. A temporary truce so that they can take advantage of each other in order to gain credit and favor. It is a typical maneuver, one that I've seen plenty of times before, that rarely takes military tactics into account but is nevertheless effective, since motivation through greed or pride can sometimes be more effective than a well laid-out plan. In this instance, I would suggest that it is not a situation to be taken lightly."

Serizawa's disapproving gaze hits me, and I give him a little smirk, letting him know that I know his game, and that I know how to play it quite well. Serizawa's lip curls a little. "Both Satsuma and Aizu have shunned Choshuu due to how they enter and leave the imperial court as if it were their own. It is safe to assume that clashing ideals are a trivial problem before the chance to crush Choshuu."  
Between the two of us, Hijikata seems quite thoroughly pissed off. "Thanks for the lecture. I don't care. I don't give a damn about what's in the minds of opportunists who alter their attitudes based on the situation."

Shinpachi finally gets us back to the matter at hand. "So, what should we do?"

Kondou grows solemn. "We cannot move the corps without orders from the Aizu domain."

"Leaving us no choice but to wait." Hijikata sounds frustrated, still controlling his emotions fairly well.  
Sano glances over at me. "Ciara, you said earlier that it sounded like cannon fire. Do you know anything about cannons?"

Kondou's attention quickly snaps to me. And he looks quite hopeful. "Ciara, do you have any information that could help us?"

I lean back and roll my eyes. "Now you ask me? Shouldn't you have asked this earlier?"

"Well, we're asking now. So if you have information, then spit it out." Hijikata's patience is straining.

I sigh and look out the door at the sky. "British field cannons. That's my guess. They sound like British cannons. The French and Spanish ones sound different, and the Dutch have a trade agreement with the English. That would probably be how they got their hands on them. The naval cannons are meant for distance, some of them can shoot over half a mile. But the field cannons are meant for power, since they're designed as siege weapons, they need to be used closer to the target. These cannons are meant for taking down huge stone castles. There'll be two or three gunners to a cannon, with barricades and shelters built everywhere. As long as you can take down the gunners, or stop them from reloading quickly, there should be less trouble dealing with the artillery." I frown, as I can see plumes of smoke rising into the bright blue sky. "Just pray that they aren't bronze cannons. If they are, this whole city is going to be blown apart by cannonballs."

But it seems that Serizawa doesn't want to wait any longer. "Alright, enough with the cannons. We're leaving. We'll merely lose the chance to earn distinction if we sit around doing nothing." And for once, there is no disagreement among our ranks.

The timing is perfect, because just as we are ready to leave, a messenger comes to us. "I bring orders! The Roshigumi are to hurry to the imperial palace! Guard the gates!"

That gets us all excited, and Kondou addresses the troops. "Our lord has given the order. The Mibu Roshigumi are to mobilize. We shall be the ones to protect the emperor!"

* * *

So we head out and march off towards the battlefield, uniforms flapping in the wind, and flags standing tall. But as we arrive, the troops there stop us. "Who are you an your men? This gate leads to the revered imperial palace."

"Rogue warriors, leave with all due haste!"

Kondou addresses them first. "I ask you to step aside. We are the Mibu Roshigumi, who serve under lieutenant general Matsudaira. We came here under official orders to guard the emperor."

"The Mibu Roshigumi?"

"I've never heard that name before. Leave our sight at once! Before you get hurt!"

Hijikata is livid. "What did you say?"

Heisuke turns to Saito, confused. "What's up with that?"

"It would appear…we still lack a name." Saito looks like he's one wisecrack away from drawing on these fools. "I imagine there are some in the domain who still do not know of us."

I turn my nose up at them. "That, or they just don't want to follow orders." I sniff angrily. "What an unfortunate lack of battlefield etiquette."

Kondou continues with the diplomatic approach. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you. But perhaps you would be so kind as to check with the officials."

"Bug off! We never received any orders about you!" And when one of them points a spear at Kondou's face, I have to wonder if he has a death wish. "Leave immediately!"

Before Hijikata can retaliate, Serizawa knocks the spear away with his fan. "He said, go confirm your orders with the officials right this damn second!" The look on his face would be a little frightening, were I not even more frightening than him. "Since you have directed that spear at me, you should be prepared to get cut down and killed within an instant, yes? I am the loyal and patriotic samurai, Kamo Serizawa. I command the Mibu Roshigumi that serves the Aizu domain. And you will let us enter the palace!" He successfully intimidates the soldiers into submission. And even I have to admit that he can get people moving when he has to.

We spend a successful day keeping the palace safe. And best of all, there were no skirmishes that got past us, and none of us got hurt. And since there wasn't a whole lot to do, I spent most of my time looking at the imperial Japanese architecture.

* * *

After returning to the estate and getting a full night's sleep, Kondou calls us all for a meeting, where he gives us some good news. "Everyone, you did wonderfully the other day. The lord of Aizu held our work in high regard. He now says that he would like to officially entrust Kyoto's patrols to us."

"Wow, that's awesome!" If he wasn't sitting, Shinpachi would probably be jumping for joy at this news.  
Sano is happy about this as well. "This should make conducting our patrols a whole lot easier."

But Kondou isn't finished with the surprises. "And he bestowed a great honor upon us. The lord of Aizu has bequeathed a new name unto our squad." And he pulls out a scroll, opening it to reveal the name Shinsengumi. "We are the Shinsengumi!" And that announcement is met with some very happy cheers.  
Hijikata looks very proud now. "Supposedly, this was the name of an organization that was in the Aizu domain. Those who excelled in military arts gathered under it."

Heisuke elbows me with a grin. "Hey, that's kind of inspiring, ain't it?"

I chuckle and smile. "I suppose it is."

Kondou coughs to regain our attention. "So in other words, the lord of Aizu believes that the Roshigumi are worthy as warriors to inherit such a grand name. To meet his expectations, we must further dedicate ourselves to our mission."

Heisuke is just tickled pink. "It's not real often you get a day as sweet as today." He turns it to Hijikata. "Hijikata-san, hoe about it? It's been ages since we partied."

Hijikata and Kondou share a smile. "Yes, we will all celebrate together tonight!"

There is a mass of cheering, and everyone jumps up, eager to get going and get started on the drinking. I'm not really big on drinking, I prefer food to alcohol. But I stick around the guys to make sure that none of them get in over their heads. At least this time, we're not in Shimabara. It's not too bad if we half trash this place. We can always clean it up later.

It's halfway to dawn before the guys finally all pass out, drunk. And I make my way around the room, draping blankets over them, making sure that none of them are going to catch colds while they sleep like that. I look back with a smile as I close the door and return to my room for the night.


	18. Missing

It doesn't even feel like we've been in Kyoto for several months. Everything has been happening so fast that the days have just been flying by. Between those few Fury escapes, and the patrols, we've had more than enough on our plates to not notice how quickly time is passing us by. Heisuke's even turned eighteen already. But with another morning, and another incident on our hands, things aren't looking too good, despite our luck with Aizu. But what makes this situation interesting, is that it is very suspicious.

The doctor's house caught fire, and after investigating the site, no one could discover even a trace of the doctor, not even a burned corpse or ashes. Nimi's movements have also been very suspicious lately, and I've been keeping a covert eye on his comings and goings from the headquarters of my own accord. Apart from that, I spend my days doing patrols and practicing my knife throwing. Although, right when I stop watching him for a bit, Nimi runs off with all of the research on the Water of Life. And despite our efforts, none of us can find him on the grounds of the estate.

* * *

Hijikata calls us in for another meeting, one to discuss how to go about rectifying the situation surrounding Nimi. "I suspected that he'd try to pull something sooner or later. But to think he ran off with the Water of Life, of all things."

"What should we do, Hijikata-san?" Luckily for the rest of us, Heisuke is upfront enough to ask where we go from here. "Don't we need to hurry and find out where he went?"

Hijikata considers it for a moment. "Considering the weight of the situation, I'd love to have every single member out looking for Nimi-san. But with the Water of Life in the picture, I can only send those of us who already know about Koudou-san's elixir."

"Indeed. Fortunately for us, Koudou-san did not take the men he conducted the Fury experimentations on." Sannan, always looking for a positive in a hopeless situation.

Sano sees the point immediately. "Which means, that as long as Nimi-san doesn't resume his experiments, he's not an immediate threat. Or am I wrong?"

Souji remains on the cynical side of this. "But I think we can all agree, that man will do what he thinks is necessary to sell the Water of Life."

After a moment of silent contemplation, Kondou makes a decision. "Very well then, locating Nimi-san should be our top priority. Keep your eyes peeled while you are out conducting patrols."

* * *

For a couple of weeks, we have no luck in finding out where Nimi has been hiding. We keep a look out, covertly ask around, and we even get to find out that Ryunosuke isn't half bad with a brush. He paints up a pretty good likeness of Nimi, so that we have a picture for reference when we ask people if they've seen him.

But, luckily for us, though still a bit suspicious, Ryunosuke goes to Hijikata with some information that he got from Serizawa. Now, I'm not one to advocate trusting that man, but refusing to check out the information on that basis alone would be foolhardy. And after Yamazaki returns with Souji and Saito, obviously with a report for Hijikata, Hijikata storms out of the meeting hall, looking grim.

Of course, it doesn't take him long to notice me sitting on the deck, lazing around in the sun. And his frustrated expression tells me exactly how much he disapproves of me just sitting around like this. I raise an eyebrow at him. "So, are we headed out somewhere?"

He grits his teeth, looking angry. "The four of us are headed to Gion Shimichi. We're going in a small group this time. But knowing what that man is up to, there might not only be that single Fury running about. I want you to stay here and keep a look out. If you see or hear anything suspicious, I want you to act immediately. Is that understood?"

I nod, a little bewildered by how insistent he's being. He and Kondou are usually very hesitant about giving me free license to kill. Today, he's not only giving me permission, but making it an order. "Of course. If a Fury shows up, consider it dead. Care to tell me a little more about what's going on?"

"We're going to go arrest Nimi-san, of course." Souji grins, though his grin looks more like a bloodthirsty leer. " I register the almost frightening look on Souji's face. "You know, Souji, if you keep grinning like that, your face is going to get stuck that way."

"Aw…" Souji pouts. "Ciara, you're no fun."

I scoff and look away from him. "I'm not your kind of fun, nor do I want to be."

As they walk away, Souji turns around, walking backwards to sneer at me. "I'll tell you all about it when we get back!"

I roll my eyes and get to my feet. _Right, because I definitely want to hear the details of how you're planning on killing Nimi. I may not like the guy, but you really shouldn't think that I'm as bloodthirsty as you._

* * *

As ordered, I sit on top of the front gate, gazing out into the city, watching and listening for any sign that all is not well. When they finally return, I know immediately that Nimi is dead. I can see it on their faces, Hijikata is solemn and Souji is smirking, Saito and Yamazaki are both grim-faced and silent. _How bad was it…? For them to have those kinds of expressions on their faces…this can't possibly be good._

Souji grins at me. "Too bad, Ciara, you got left out of all the fun."

I sniff irritably. "I don't know why you seem to think that I find killing people to be fun. I don't. It's just something that I do. Now you should just shut up and go to bed. No one wants to hear you gloat about how it felt to kill that traitor."

Now, Souji looks a little put out. "Well, it was Hijikata-san who killed him. But Hajime-kun and I helped. Nimi went and turned himself into a Fury."

That's a bit of a shock. "He turned himself into a Fury?" That disturbs me more than anything else. "He must have been quite desperate to resort to that. I can't imagine why anyone would willingly inflict that kind of fate on themselves." _I would never do it, and I would never wish it on anyone else either._ "Anyway, sleep tight!" Souji walks away with a smirk on his face, and I resist the urge to growl at his back. Sleep tight, my ass. _If you really wanted me to sleep well, you would have shared the details when I woke up. Bastard…_ It's days like this that I really hate Souji's stupid attitude.


	19. Upheaval

Tensions are running high. After the fire, the doctor's disappearance, and Nimi's death, all that is left is to deal with Serizawa and find the doctor. And though it all sounds simple, it is not nearly as simple as one would think, not with furies mixed in. And now, it is nearly fall.

Hijikata calls us all together for a meeting, though leaves most of the Shinsengumi out of it. It's just us from Edo, except for Shinpachi and Heisuke. _I wonder…were those two left out on purpose? I can't imagine that Shinpachi would go along with this. But I suppose that Heisuke is just too innocent to involve in a plot like this._

Hijikata is grim as he lays out the situation. "Serizawa has to die." There's a general feeling of surprise, but no one is realy shocked to hear this. "We'll carry it out tomorrow." Hijikata glances at Kondou. "Kondou-san, is that acceptable?"

Kondou nods. "Yes. These orders came from the Aizu domain. I will take full responsibility for what transpires.

I waste no time. "In this case, I would suggest leaving this to a professional, to minimize the chances of something going wrong." I grow very serious, and leave no room for interpretation. "Send me to do it. I will be your assassin."

Everyone stares at me, making it clear that they weren't expecting me to volunteer so openly. Sano looks worried. "Ciara, there's no reason for you to take this on yourself."

Hijikata glances sternly at me. "No. I'm not planning to have you participate in this mission."

 _Is he insane?_ Now, it's time to make my arguments. "I'm the one who is best suited for this job. I was trained to do exactly this. I know how to kill someone quickly, quietly, and without hesitation or mercy. I can be in and out in less than a minute, and no one would even know what happened. I can break his neck, or cut off blood flow to the brain, crack open his skull, or various other methods that wouldn't lead back to anyone." I take a small sack from the pouch attached to my leg and hold it up. "I can even poison him and make it look like a death from natural causes. I can do this better than anyone else."

Kondou shakes his head. "There is no need for you to take on this job. You stopped doing assassinations four years ago, so you shouldn't start again now."

I glare angrily at Kondou. "Stop treating me like a child. You clearly have no idea what other skills I possess, otherwise you wouldn't hesitate to use me."

"Aren't you letting your emotions run away with you?" Souji smirks at me from the corner. "You just want to kill him because you hate the guy."

I shake my head in frustration. "No. I make this suggestion because it is the logical course of action. It will waste no time or energy, and has the smallest chance of failing. When it comes to this business, emotions can take no part in it."

Hijikata quickly becomes frustrated with my insistence. "Ciara, I have no intention of including you in this task. I had planned for you and Saito to keep Heisuke, Shinpachi, and Ryunosuke busy while the rest of us carry out these orders."

I grit my teeth and clench my fists. "Why would you waste so much time by discarding a plan that would work?"

His expression fades into what looks like self-doubt. "Because if we are to move forwards, we have to do this ourselves."

"I see…" I fold my arms across my chest and sigh. "Very well, I will provide some kind of distraction that will keep them occupied. But don't blame me if something goes wrong. I'm not usually the one making the distraction, I'm the one driving the knife into someone's back while someone else distracts them."

He nods, and now Hijikata sounds resigned to this plan. "My friends, I am counting on you. In order for us to proceed, we simply cannot skirt around this path." And while it does not sit well with me to be so unprofessional about this, the decision has been made, and I will abide by it.

* * *

So we invite Serizawa to the red light district for a party, and we all eat and drink to our hearts' content. I sit over by Saito, keeping an eye on Heisuke, Shinpachi, and Ryunosuke the whole time. And Shinpachi decides to entertain us with some stupid tricks, including breaking chopsticks with his ass. I don't really understand why people find it so funny, but I'd prefer not to burst anyone's bubble tonight. _Tonight is going to be a night of blood, but at least in the meantime, it's not going to be boring._

"It's about time I took my leave and returned to our headquarters."Serizawa finally puts down his cup, planning to leave, and setting the first part of the plan into action.

"Have you had enough sake to drink, sir?" Sannan sounds concerned, but I know that it's all an act. _Jeez, talking like that, you almost sound like a concerned wife…_

Yeah…" Serizawa gets to his feet.

"In that case, I'll go back as well." Hijikata gets to his feet, followed by Souji. "Sounds good to me."

"Then, I shall go." Sannan is the last to get to his feet.

Ryunosuke slurps down his soup and moves to get up, but Serizawa stops him. "You may stay. Take your time and enjoy the meal."

Ryunosuke looks a little shocked, but Heisuke smiles. "Why not do what he said, Ryunosuke. It's rare to get a treat like this, so go on and clean your plate."

"Here, here, buddy! Serizawa-san even gave you the a-ok!" Shinpachi holds up his sake in celebration.  
Serizawa turns to Shinpachi briefly. "Nagakura-kun, look after him in my stead."

"You got it, sir." Shinpachi seems to think that this is just an innocent request.

But something rings false to me. _He knows…I don't know how, but he knows about the plot tonight. I don't know if he knows about it consciously, or if it's his instincts telling him that his life is in danger, but he knows. I hope the others know what they're getting themselves into._

* * *

About half an hour later, Ryunosuke is finished cleaning his plate. "Thanks for the feast! It's about time I headed on back."

Heisuke seems to agree. "Well, Shinpachi? Why don't we call it a night ourselves? We're in charge of patrol first thing tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good." Shinpachi moves to get up and leave, and that's something that we just can't have.

"You can't." Saito's voice is so quiet, and his comment so short, that Heisuke, Ryunosuke, and Shinpachi seem very confused. "I would appreciate it if everyone stayed here."

Shinpachi gets suspicious immediately, and looks to our faces for answers. "Does this mean something is about to go down tonight? Are you going to kill Serizawa-san?"

Heisuke looks absolutely stunned, and he turns to Saito for answers. "Hajime-kun?"

But since Saito stays silent, Shinpachi turns on Kondou. "Kondou-san, what the hell is this about? Were you ordered to commit this murder?"

"If such were the case, what would you do?" Saito gets to his feet, determined to see this mission succeed.

But Shinpachi obviously feels betrayed. "Does everyone else know about this?"

"No, only a select few have been informed. The vice-commander decided that it would be best if you did not bear witness."

"What the hell? Don't give me that!" Shinpachi's temper is starting to get the better of him, and that's never a good thing. "So you wouldn't tell me!?"

Heisuke turns to me, looking a little hurt "Did you know about this!?"

I nod, slowly, my voice even, subdued, and cold. "Initially, I volunteered to carry out this mission myself. It would only have taken a minute or two, it would have been fast, efficient, and relatively painless. But Hijikata and Kondou insisted on not sending me in as an assassin. They decided to do this the hard way, because Kondou didn't want me going back to what I used to do." I glance irritably at Kondou. "Despite the fact that I am very good at what I used to do…"

Shinpachi looks like he's going to pummel Saito, so Heisuke holds him back. "Hey! Wait a sec, Shinpachi!"

But more dangerous than Shinpachi's temper is Ryunosuke running right off to head back. So Heisuke runs after him, and Saito chases after Shinpachi when the big lug uses that opportunity to head back as well.

I sigh and shake my head, then look at Kondou. "See, if you and Hijikata had just asked me to carry this out when you had the chance, all of this would be over by now."

I get up and leave the room, then jump over the railing and hit the ground running. I run through the rain and catch up to where Heisuke has hold of Ryunosuke, and Saito is standing his ground against Shinpachi.

Heisuke isn't too happy to see this fight about to go down. "Come on! Cut it out! Stop it!" But Ryunosuke takes that opportunity to break away and run off, so I take up the chase when Heisuke starts running after the fool.

I glance at Heisuke. "I know that it might seem wrong that we had to keep it from you, but it would have been better if you had no idea. It was my job to keep you guys there. So I was hoping that you guys would drink until you passed out, and avoid causing any trouble. Obviously, I was wrong."

Heisuke looks at me, still upset that I didn't trust him with this. "You still could have told me…"

I stay quiet. His anger is understandable, and maybe it was wrong to exclude him from this. But I did what I thought was best, and I'm not going to apologize for that. I never apologize for something that I do because I believe that it's right.

* * *

Somehow, we make it back to the estate without running into Ryunosuke. Heisuke waves to Sano as we approach the gate. "Sano-san!"

"Heisuke, what are you doing here?" Then Sano spots me behind Heisuke. "Ciara?" His eyes narrow. "What happened?"

Heisuke takes a minute to catch his breath. "Did Ryunosuke come by here?"

"What?" Sano looks very concerned now.

I pat Heisuke on the back as he gasps for air. "Ryunosuke, Heisuke, and Shinpachi got away from us. Ryunosuke ran of in this direction." I look up at the wall. "And if you haven't seen him, then I guess the only place he could be is inside already, he must have climbed over the wall."

Sano's eyes go wide, and he turns towards the inside of the estate. "Then let's go!" I follow after him immediately, and Heisuke catches up to us in a minute. And together, the three of us charge into the estate, near where the sounds of fighting and yelling can be heard.

Ryunosuke is there, and he's freaking out. I didn't think that he was so attached to Serizawa to be pleading for his life like that, but it seems that I was wrong. He's pleading, and quite desperately.  
"You damn idiot! Ibuki, why the hell did you come here, huh?" Hijikata is furious, and its no wonder, considering that the battle is raging far longer than I expected it to.

"Please stop it! I'm begging you! Don't do it! He's fighting an illness." And whether Ryunosuke knows it or not, he's just dropped the bomb that could give this whole fight an entirely different point.

Hijikata doesn't care. "So what if he is? Each one of us has reached the point where there's no going back!"

But all of Ryunosuke's pleading comes too late, and as Hijikata slices a deep cut into Serizawa's arm, the old warrior pulls a desperate move. He takes out a vial of the Water of Life, and downs it, turning himself into a red-eyed, white-haired Fury.

 _Damn it! Why do I not have a weapon on me now?_ I had left all of my weapons behind, save for one small dagger, since I expected that I wouldn't need to get into a fight tonight. _I should have known better. I should have been prepared for this…_

Now that Serizawa is a Fury, everyone rushes in, in an effort to subdue him. Sannan gets thrown back and Hijikata goes down. Serizawa goes after Ryunosuke and nearly chokes the life out of him. Sano charges in and gets thrown back, then Souji suffers the same fate. The fighters are falling all over the place. And this whole while, Serizawa has kept a firm grip on Ryunosuke's collar, talking to him in hushed tones, before throwing him away.

I turn to Heisuke. "You take care of Ryunosuke. I've got work to do." And without waiting for an answer, I set my eyes on my prey.

 _Well, it's now or never._ I jump into the fray, dagger in hand, and with one simple goal. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get that sword away from him. If I can do that, then this battle might not be so hopeless after all.

I run towards Serizawa, intent on taking him down. As he tries to bring his sword down on my head, I slide to the ground, and right between his legs, getting back up behind him. As fast as lightning, I strike at his right shoulder and elbow.

He turns to me, glaring with blood-red eyes. "Little wench. Do you really think that such petty tactics are going to work on me?"

I take a deep breath, then smile a little. "Why yes, I do."

He raises his sword again, and this time, when he brings it down towards my head, instead of dodging the blow, I make a simple side-step, grab his sword, and drive my elbow into the crook of his arm, tearing the sword from his grip. He barely seems to notice that he's no longer holding his sword, and he smashes his left arm into me, throwing me clean across the yard, and against the fence, which cracks under the force of the impact.

I groan as I push myself to my knees, and I see Ryunosuke running off. _Dammit, Ryunosuke. If you run now, it's only going to make things even worse for you later._

But as I look back at Serizawa, I see Hijikata taking him on, with some help from Sannan and Souji. And without his sword, he is much less of a threat. Hijikata gets in close enough to drive his sword through Serizawa's heart, ending his life as a fury.

Heisuke runs over and pulls me to my feet. "Ciara, are you okay? You got hit pretty hard. You might have some broken ribs."

I press my hand to my chest, but he's wrong. Some of my ribs are a little cracked from that impact, but nothing serious. Nothing that I can't fix by tomorrow. Still, he doesn't need to know that. "No, everything feels fine. The pain should be gone in a few hours."

Heisuke nods, trusting my judgment. "That's good." Then he laughs a bit. "Looks like you're made of stronger stuff than the fence, anyway."

I smile at his joke. "No kidding. Still hurts like a bitch, though." I groan a little as we walk over to the others. "I'll be just fine after some rest." I look to the others, and everyone is quiet. "So, what now?"

"We have to search and find Ibuki-kun, don't we?" Sannan makes the point that no one else seems to want to raise.

Souji is perfectly fine with that. "That means…go kill him, doesn't it?"

Hijikata's nod sends everyone out to find Ryunosuke, since he can't be allowed to get away, not with everything that he knows about the inner workings of the Shinsengumi.

Heisuke turns to me, looking very concerned. "Ciara, you stay here. You need to rest."

I shake my head defiantly. "No, I'll help with the search."

He blinks, then nods. "Okay. But let me know if you need to slow down or stop."

Little does he know, my ribs are almost fine already. "Alright. But for now, let's focus on finding Ryunosuke."

* * *

The two of us head out into the city, running up and down alleys and streets, looking for our wayward friend. If we're the ones who find him, I know that Heisuke will want to help him escape. And that's something that I'm perfectly okay with. Ryunosuke wouldn't tell anyone about the Furies, it's more than traumatic enough the first time, and I doubt that he would want to relive it, even by memory. Plus, no one would believe him if he did. Monster that drink human blood in the night, that's a little more than just outlandish.

Despite our searching, Heisuke and I can't seem to track him down. It's like he's gone and vanished into thin air. And Heisuke looks more than a little disappointed. "He's gone…"

I nod. "Let's hope that he's escaped, and not dead."

He nods, but as there's nothing left for us to do, we head back to headquarters in failure. _Well, sort of failure. It would only really be a failure if we were returning with his lifeless corpse._

When we get back, Souji greets us at the gate. "Welcome back you two. Didn't find Ryunosuke, huh?"

I glance at Souji, understanding his tone. "I take it you did?"

"Yep." He looks mighty proud of himself. "Pushed him into the river and everything. I don't think we'll ever be seeing him again."

Pain crosses Heisuke's face. "I see…" He's taking it remarkably well, considering how fond he was of Ryunosuke. "I'm going to bed."

Heisuke walks off, head down, and a drag in his step. I glance at Souji. "You're a sadistic son of a bitch. You know that, right?"

Souji gives me one of his puppy pouts. "Aw…Ciara, you're so mean to me."

And here is my favorite part of these conversations. "Yes I am, and don't pretend that you deserve any better, you sadistic little masochist."

Souji tries to keep the pouty look on his face, but fails horribly, and starts cracking up. "Damn, you're ruthless!"

I smirk and walk right past him. "Yeah, I know." _And don't you ever forget it, Souji…_


	20. Captains of the Shinsengumi

Now that most of our problems are dealt with, all that remains is to get back to work, patrolling across Kyoto. So, after breakfast, we all meet out on the front steps of the temple.

Shinpachi is still making a fuss over no one telling him what was going down last night. "What gives, Sano? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You're still going on about that, Shinpachi?" Sano really sounds like he doesn't want to deal with Shinpachi's antics this early in the day. I can't blame him, I almost prefer the big guy when he's drunk.

"Saito!" The big lug turns his agitation on poor Saito next. "You've got to let me whack you once!"  
Predictably, Saito's reaction is short and to the point. "I refuse."

I sigh and turn to Heisuke, ignoring the rest of Shinpachi's outbursts. And Heisuke just looks sad. "I wonder if…Ryunosuke's really dead…"

Sano comes over and sits next to Heisuke, putting his hand on Heisuke's shoulder. "His sturdy build was one of his strong points, you know? I'm sure he survived."

I smile at the sky, some of the colors reminding me of Ryunosuke's hair. "Yeah, that guy's a tough one. I mean, he managed to survive all the other shit that happened. Falling into a river should be no big deal for him."

Heisuke looks at me, uncertain, but then he looks up at the sky as well, no doubt wondering where Ryunosuke is now. "Yeah…maybe…"

* * *

A little while later, the other members of the Shinsengumi arrive at the temple, here to attend the funeral service for Serizawa. No one outside of our circle knows what really happened to him, so we hold the service, all of us in uniform, as befits a commander of the Shinsengumi.

And none of us talk about what really happened…

After the service, it's time to get out on patrol. Heisuke's head is still in space, so I poke him in the arm. "Hey! Heisuke! You in there?"

That shakes him back to reality, and he blinks at me. "Yeah? What?"

I smirk and shake my head. "Have you forgotten? I'm tagging along with you for patrol today. Shinpachi's group is taking the east side." I knock on his head playfully. "Now do you remember?"

"Right…" And finally, a smile creeps onto his face. "Of course, I remember."

"Good, then let's go!" I thump him on the back and head towards the gates. "The city isn't going to wait for us to get our asses moving, so hurry up!"

Heisuke chases me out the gates, and we make our way into the city with four other members, randomly picked by Hijikata to round out our group while on patrol. And somehow, I get the feeling that Hijikata likes pairing me and Heisuke up just so that I can keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble.

* * *

Our patrols of the city go by slowly and uneventfully. Seems like we're finally getting a break. It hasn't been this peaceful since we first arrived in Kyoto. We've been dealing with problem after problem since day one.

At the end of the day, after we finish our rounds, we return to headquarters, and find Saito waiting for us at the gate.

Heisuke is plenty happy to see him. "Hajime-kun! We're back!"

Saito nods. "I can see that." He glances at me. "The two of you need to come with me, we're having a meeting."

That's surprising. "Alright, then let's go." I'm rather curious to find out what this meeting is about. We've already managed to solve all but one of our problems. So unless Yamazaki and Shimada have found a new lead on the doctor, I can't imagine what this might be about.

Heisuke and I follow Saito to the meeting hall, and inside are Souji, Sannan, Kondou, Hijikata, Sano, Shinpachi, and Inoue, as well as three other members, Takeda, Matsubara, and Suzuki, I think. Quite an interesting group, if I were giving an opinion.

The three of us sit down, and with our arrival, Kondou starts the meeting. "Now that all of you are here, it's time for us to start reorganizing the structure of the Shinsengumi."

Hijikata nods. "We've decided to divide the Shinsengumi into ten divisions, each with its own captain. We've had a few recruits coming in the last few days, and envision there being more. So establishing a structure now will help to prevent confusion in the future. It will also allow us to divide the city up into sections for patrols, and assign divisions to them, rotating from day to day."

 _Okay, that makes sense, but what's he planning?_ I frown, trying to comprehend exactly what Hijikata is planning to do. _Unless…_ I look around the room, counting up the number of people here. _Ten…there's ten of us here…_

Kondou nods at me. "You seem to have caught on already, good."

"Caught on to what? Heisuke sounds very confused now. "Whose going to be the captains?"

"Be quiet and listen." Hijikata almost snaps, but controls his temper. "The captain of the first division is going to be Souji."

Souji raises an eyebrow, obviously amused. "Really? I kind of like the sound of that…"

Hijikata coughs. "The second division will be working under Shinpachi, while the third division will be led by Saito."

Shinpachi looks positively giddy at the news. "I get my own division? Sweet!"

"Matsubara, you have command of the fourth division." Hijikata turns his gaze on me. "Ciara, I'm putting you in charge of the fifth division."

My eyes widen, despite already understanding that I'm included in this. "Captain of the fifth division?" I put on a nervous smile, and nod. "Very well."

Hijikata nods, continuing his list. "Gen-san, I leave the sixth division to you, and the seventh division to Takeda. Ad the eighth division's captain, will be Heisuke."

"What!? Me, Hijikata-san?" Heisuke's surprise is loud, to say the least.

"Yes, you." Hijikata's eye gives a very visible twitch. "There's only a very small group that have the skill, and enough of our trust to be handed this kind of responsibility."

Heisuke's eyes go wide, and he finally sits still, well mostly, he's still fidgeting like crazy. And I can hear him muttering under his breath. "Captain…that's awesome!"

"Division nine will be headed up by Suzuki, and Harada will have command of division ten." Hijikata finally finishes assigning the captains to squads, and continues with his explanations. "Now, we'll be assigning two divisions on each patrol. When we grow larger, we'll be rotating patrols through the members of each division."

Kondou takes over, gently. "Now, Souji and Hajime-kun, the two of you will be conducting your next patrol together. And Nagakura-kun, you will be with Harada-kun. Suzuki-san and Takeda-san, the two of you will be working together, as will Inoue-san and Matsubara-san." And finally, he gets to the most predictable pairing. "Ciara, please watch over Heisuke-kun."

I smirk a little. "Of course, I'll make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble."

Heisuke pouts a little. "You say that like you think I'm going to cause trouble."

My smirk grows a little wider. "Oh good, then I guess I don't have to explain it to you."

"Why you!" Heisuke goes as red as a cherry, and he looks almost ready to give me a good tap to the head.

Sano decides to smooth over the situation. "Hey Heisuke, why don't you, me and Shinpachi go out for some drinks to celebrate?"

And like usual, the temptation of alcohol is enough to distract Heisuke from his irritation with me. "That sounds awesome! Let's go!"

Hijikata fumes a little at that announcement. "Make sure to behave yourselves. We're working on building up our image, not tearing it down."

Sano smiles ruefully. "I'll make sure that these two don't get too rowdy."

"They're not the only ones in danger of getting rowdy." Hijikata glares at them pointedly. "In any case, this meeting is dismissed."

With the meeting officially over, Shinpachi drags Sano and Heisuke out the door, no doubt off to Shimabara to drown themselves in alcohol.

 _I just hope that they don't make a habit of this…it'll bring all sorts of trouble if they start appearing too often in the red-light district._

As for me, I spend the evening trying to figure out how my division is going to run. I doubt that Hijikata, Sannan and Kondou are going to be managing all of the divisions themselves, so it'll be up to us captains to make sure that all of our soldiers stay in line.


	21. Budding Respect

**Okay, so I'm planning on doing a few chapters, meaning like three or four, that outline their patrols around the city before I bring Chizuru into the story. Sure, she's important, but things do happen before she shows up. So, I figured that I would take this opportunity to develop the in between. Which, of course, is what I've had writer's block on. I've been trying to come up with ideas for what happens during their patrols.**

 **I'm also planning to start doing some small P.O.V. switches in the future. And there's going to be lots of Ciara-Heisuke bonding, because Heisuke is just such a happy-go-lucky sweetie. Well…most of the time. And I want Ciara to alternate between making fun of him, and cheering him up. They're going to have a very dynamic relationship, and there's going to be a lot of jokes and jibes.**

 **So here's the first patrol.**

* * *

With an ever so slight fall chill in the air, I do my first patrol as captain through the city with a few members from my division. Despite their initial resentment at being put under the command of a woman, they're behaving themselves. Well, for now. Though considering that seeing a woman fighting seems to be rare here, as rare as anywhere else, they're clearly all just waiting for me to make a mistake.

Heisuke's division should be patrolling a few streets over, close enough for us to help each other if something happens, but far enough apart that we can cover ground efficiently. And it serves another purpose. If my first patrol with this squad goes well, they might actually start to show me some respect. As of right now, they would just give Heisuke all the credit if we patrolled together.

We pass through the shopping district, and all seems calm. I would rather that nothing happen on my patrol, since the city is my main concern. But it's a battle between wanting the city to stay safe, and wanting to prove myself to the men under my command. And frankly, I do want the chance to prove to them that even if I'm a woman, I can still hold my own as well as the rest of them. Even though I know that in a one on one fight, or even if they all came at me together, there is no way that they would be able to beat me. I know my strength far better than they do. And they would be wise not to underestimate me.

Regardless, this patrol has been boring so far, and I'm almost itching to get into some kind of fight. Or at least get my blood pumping. Being idle too long is bad for my nerves. I get fidgety if I go too long without some kind of confrontation. Thankfully, the guys at headquarters are usually up for a spar if I'm feeling restless.

* * *

Finally, I catch sight of some erratic movements up ahead on the street. _Please let that be something to do, and not just some couple having an argument._ I've seen couples argue before, and it's pretty frustrating when I can't step in. I was scolded by Hijikata the first time I did it. Something about letting couples sort out their own disputes, otherwise it brings shame on their relationship. _Well pardon me for thinking that being abusive to women is wrong._

I continue walking, approaching the figures cautiously. And luckily for me, it's clear that this is not a fight between a couple. It's a group of rogue samurai harassing two girls.

"We can handle this." One of my squad members moves to draw his blade, staring at the scuffle.

But I stop him and shake my head. "No need. It's kind of you to offer, but I can handle this by myself." I crack my neck a little, my eagerness almost seeping out through my pores. "I've been dying for some excitement."

"But captain, you should let us handle it. We couldn't possibly let you take them on by yourself."

I turn to look at them, my gaze a little cold. "Stand back and watch. I doubt I'll even need to draw my sword to deal with these fools." Without waiting for my squad to respond, I walk towards the scuffle, my hands away from my swords, and placed on my hips instead.

"Come on ladies…why don't you show us a good time? We promise that we'll make it worth your while." The most forward one is being far too touchy-feely with the poor girls, his hand firmly on the shorter one's wrist. And no one around is even bothering to say anything about it. It's situations like this that disgust me.

So I walk up to the group, my hands still on my hips. "Hey! Hands off the girls! They obviously don't want you anywhere near them."

The rogue samurai eye me, then grin. "Well, looky here, if it isn't a feisty little one." The touchy one lets go of the girl. "You want to entertain us instead?"

I shake my head dismally. "I think that you and I have very different definitions of what entertainment is." I reach back and place my hand on the hilt of my sword in a very threatening manner, even though I have no intention of drawing it. "Now, if you would prefer to keep that filthy hand of yours, I suggest that you leave the girls alone."

Instead of taking me seriously, the three men burst into laughter. "A little girl thinks that she can fight us!? What a joke!"

I clench my fists, and my mouth twitches into an irritated smirk. "Fight you? Hardly. It's not going to be much of a fight, since I can put you on the ground before you can blink."

The most arrogant of the three steps up, his hand on the sword at his hip. "Then why don't you prove it, girl? And when you fail, I'll be sure to have my fun with you. And enjoy it."

 _Oh, I'll be the one having fun, but I don't think that you'll be all that amused. The only ones ever amused by me are the guys._ A smirk crosses my face, and I stand tall despite my short stature.

The guy leers at me and reaches for me, obviously planning to grab my wrist and subdue me like a woman. And his gesture is very much the wrong one.

As his hand travels towards me, I grab his wrist instead, yanking him towards me and planting my fist in his face, as promised, before he even has a chance to blink. I hear plenty of cracking sounds, which means that I probably broke his nose. Frankly, he deserves worse for what he tried to pull, but I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with ruining this fool's face. Kondou would be upset with me if I just killed people at random.

As their leader hits the ground, the other two draw their swords and point them at me. "Damn bitch!" It must be a play on the fact that I'm one of the Shinsengumi, the ones they call the Wolves of Mibu. No one has ever called me that with that connotation before, but I've long since been on the receiving end of jibes and insults.

The dumber of the two charges me, so I duck down and drive a punch deep into his gut, before spinning around and driving a rough kick to the back of the fool's head. I send him sprawling into the dirt, and he lands square on his not so pretty face. And after this, he'll look even worse.

"You'll pay for that!" The third, who is obviously about as bright as his two unconscious fellows, swings his sword down on my head while I've got my back turned. But once again, I'm far too fast. I step once to the side, seize his wrist hard enough to crack it, tear his sword from his grip and flip him over, slamming him into the ground with as much force as I can muster, and driving an elbow right into his ribs. He groans and slumps as he slips into unconsciousness.

With the fools unconscious on the ground, I turn to the two girls. "You two should finish whatever you're doing and go home. It's not safe for you to be wandering around where these perverts can approach you."

They nod quickly and give me a short bow before turning tail and hurrying off down the street. A show of respect wasn't something I was expecting, considering how bad our reputation is, but it's nice to be appreciated, even just a little. Then again, it might just be because I'm a woman, and by default, I'm not as scary as the guys. Though that's misleading at best, since I'm probably the most dangerous of us all. Though the looks I get from the rest of the people on the street are much less pleasant. But I ignore them, since I don't care what they think of me.

The sound of fast footsteps reaches my ears. And sunning up in a flurry of blue and white jackets is the eighth division, with Heisuke in the lead. And he looks more than a little alarmed. "Ciara! What happened?"

I shrug and stretch my arms. "Not much. I just stopped a few perverted morons from trying to rape a couple of girls."

"What!?" His voice almost turns into a shriek. "They didn't touch you, did they!? If they did, I'm gonna-"

"Heisuke!" I cut him off and frown at him. "What are you so worked up about? This is me we're talking about. Of course they didn't. They never had the chance. They just eyed me a way I didn't like, and as you can see, they aren't eying me any more."

Heisuke opens his mouth to say something, before catching himself and calming down a little. "That's good… Did you have any trouble with them?"

"Nope." And it's true, I had no problem dealing with the fools. So the concern all over Heisuke's face is highly unnecessary. "Which means that you should wipe all that worry off your face. I'm fine. It takes a lot more than a group of morons to do any damage to me. And you should know that, considering that only Saito can beat me when we spar."

Heisuke laughs and a grin spreads on his face. "Yeah, I shouldn't have worried. There's no way that you would lose to some rogue samurai." Then he starts laughing almost hysterically. "Aw…now I'm wishing I'd been around to watch! It must have been awesome taking them down!"

"Well, it was good exercise." I crack my neck, rather loudly too. "Although, there's one thing that's bugging me."

"Huh?" Heisuke looks at me quizzically. "Did they say something that seemed weird?"

"No, nothing like that." I glance down at my hand, and it's spotless. "It's just that normally, dealing with these kind of people, they wouldn't have survived the fight. I held back a whole lot more than I expected that I'd have to. It's just weird to see my hands all clean. I think I broke the first guy's nose when I punched him in the face, but there's no blood on me at all. And I haven't killed anyone either."

Heisuke cringes a little, probably remembering the first life he took. "Okay…we'll you've got a high enough body count already. It's okay if you don't want to make it higher."

"Yeah…" I turn to my squad and point to the ruffians. "Alright, take these morons away." Then something on the ground catches my eye. "Well, looks like I was a bit too rough with them. I think I knocked a few teeth out."

There's silence for a minute, and no one moves. Then they all burst out laughing, including Heisuke, who almost doubles right over. "You-you knocked their teeth out! How hard did you hit them!?"

I give Heisuke a moderate little punch to the top of his head. "Harder that I hit you. That's why they're unconscious, and you're just an idiot."

"Ow…" Heisuke crouches down, rubbing his head. "You didn't have to hit me…"

"What, like you're not used to it already?" He's messed up enough times already to get a few head pounds from Hijikata, so you'd think that he'd have built up a resistance to it by now. But I guess that just means that he's got a delicate head. "Sounds like you need to toughen up a bit."

He pouts at me and straightens back up. "Why are you so mean to me?"

I flick his forehead and grin. "Because you act like an idiot, and telling you that isn't going to get it through your thick skull."

"Hey!"

I turn away from Heisuke and address my squad. "Could you guys take care of these morons?" The Shinsengumi can make arrests, and we make plenty of them, but we don't really have any room or means to be jailing miscreants. Our headquarters is cramped enough as is with all of the new recruits we've been getting lately. So when it's small time thugs like this, we sometimes just hand them straight over to the police. "And make sure to send my regards to the officers."

The men in my squad nod, some of them wide-eyed with astonishment at how quickly I subdued the thugs on my own. But one of them, Irata, I think, approaches me instead of helping the others to deal with the unconscious thugs. "Ma'am…"

I raise an eyebrow, since no one has ever addressed me like that before. "Yeah?"

He fidgets a bit, which really gets on my nerves, because Heisuke fidgets enough to drive me crazy already. "I apologize for my earlier distrust in your abilities. I should not have assumed that because you are a woman, that you cannot fight."

Now that's about the last thing I expected to hear out of his mouth. "I see…" I glance at Heisuke and smile. "Well, if you ever feel like finding out how well I really fight, then you should watch me and Heisuke spar some time. Maybe you'll get lucky and catch us on one of Heisuke's good days, when I'm not wiping the floor with his ass in less than five minutes."

"Hey!" Heisuke takes offense immediately, and starts to pout a little. "You don't have to say that in front of all of them…"

I snot with laughter and pat Heisuke on the head. "Don't worry. Remember, I've thrashed Souji, Sano, and Shinpachi as well. And even Saito's gotten stung by me before. So don't feel too bad."

That doesn't help Heisuke much, but he just sighs and puts his hands behind his head, a bit of a macho gesture on his part. "Yeah, yeah… I guess it's because of all that extra training you got."

"Exactly!" I watch as my squad starts dragging the rogue samurai away. "I mean, no one else in the Shinsengumi has three solid years of training and experience in assassination, and another four years of kendo training on top of that. So what would you expect?"

"For you to hold back and not hit us so hard…" Heisuke grumbles a bit, before putting a smile back on his face. "Anyway, we should get back to patrols. We've still got the rest of the day out here."

"Alright…" I glance at the one member of my squad who is still around. "I'll go with Heisuke and his squad for now. Make sure to get the others and meet up with us a few streets over once you've all delivered those ruffians to the police, alright?"

He nods quickly. "Yes, Captain!" And just like that, he runs off after the rest of the squad without another word, or even a gesture of protest.

Heisuke lightly punches me in the shoulder, a grin plastered all over his face. "Looks like they're starting to respect you a little. You must have really made an impression on them."

His comment makes me laugh. "I'd say I made more of an impression on that guy's face. But whatever works, right?"

"Right!" Heisuke grabs my arms and drags me off towards another street. "Now come on! We've got to get back to our rounds."

I smile as he drags me off. And I can already tell that I'm going to really enjoy being paired up with Heisuke's division for patrols. This is going to be awesome.


	22. A Thief and a Smile

**I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. I got caught up in my Fairy Tail fics, then in my Naruto fics, and even started on a Bleach fic (which I also need to go and update). Not to mention having my laptop break down right at the start of the new semester (and only having gotten it back last weekend), and a mountain of homework on top of it all (three midterms, a set of seminar questions, a seminar, a tutorial class, three essays, an essay outline, and two labs, all within about three weeks of each other, plus weekly history questions). Chaos doesn't even begin to describe it.**

 **But, as it is the one year anniversary of my first posting of a story on fanfiction, I decided that today should be celebrated with as many updates as my poor brain can pump out, before I start getting back into NaNoWriMo for the month of November.**

 **I'll do one more extra chapter after this one before getting back into the main story. I've finally gotten enough inspiration to come up with a little something. I will also be doing my best to make the chapters longer, since the average words per chapter is far from satisfying to me.**

 **Now, enjoy.**

* * *

It's nearing midday, and divisions five and eight are on patrol in the city today. Which means that I get plenty of quality time with Heisuke, as we watch the streets for miscreants. It's certainly not a scenario that I pictured the first time the two of us met. In fact, I was far more prepared to deck him than work with him. I'd even half wondered if I was going to end up killing him within a few years. Now, I can't imagine letting him die.

 _How the times have changed…_

"So, you think it's going to be noisy today?" Heisuke glances at me out of the corner of his eye, his hands bent lazily behind his head. "I feel like there might finally be something to do today." Judging by his posture and the slight twitching, he wants nothing more than for something to happen today. He's the type that craves excitement, and he can only go so long without it. These last few patrols must have been a quiet torture for my energetic partner.

My gaze flits around, bouncing from market stall to market stall. "Dunno. But it's our job to make sure that it stays quiet. So I'd rather not get into a huge battle out here in the middle of the city. That would be kind of defeating the point of being here."

"I guess…" Heisuke sounds a little disappointed. "I'd just really like to see some action. It's been five days since anything interesting has happened. And you're the one who got to have the fun last time."

I scoff quietly. "Yeah…your definition of interesting is the kind that could get people seriously hurt." I know that he's restless, but still, he could do with learning a little self-restraint.

Heisuke pouts a bit. "Hey, you make me sound like some kind of idiot!"

"If the shoe fits…" I try not to grumble, but honestly, this boy can be rather dense sometimes. He really needs to work on being more aware of things.

"Huh?" He looks at me curiously, tilting his head slightly. "What does that mean?"

 _Scratch that, he's extremely dense. Like lead, or maybe quicksilver..._ Which leaves it up to me to enlighten him on the subject. "It's an expression. It means that if the shoe fits your foot, then it's probably your shoe. I said that if the shoe fits, then you're an idiot. And it looks like the proverbial shoe is the perfect size." I explain it as though to a small child, hoping that he'll finally get the idea.

And unfortunately, now that he gets the point, he's back to pouting. "I'm not an idiot…it's not my shoe." He's way too fixated on the shoe part of the expression. Clearly, I'll have to educate him in the more complex metaphors. The only ones he ever likes to use are comparisons between physical things. Though I suppose that it's better than nothing.

A suspicious movement catches my eye about three hundred yards away, too far for Heisuke, or any of our squad members to detect. "Well, idiot or not, it looks like your intuition was right at least. I see trouble." And here I was hoping to spend the day just walking around.

"What? Where!?" Heisuke finally looks excited, and he glances around the street, looking for the disturbance I've seen. "Are you pulling my leg?"

I shake my head. "Opposite side of the street, about two hundred and eighty yards away. Looks like there's someone sneaking around, and I don't recognize him."

Heisuke peers in that direction as we get closer. "Huh…yeah, I definitely see something. But are you sure? How can you even see that far?"

I nod, a soft sigh escaping me. "I'm sure. And as for how I can see that far, I'd have to hand it to my training. I have to be able to see well in the dark, as well as from a distance." There's a lot more to it than that, but I'm not prepared to tell anyone about it yet.

"Well, then let's go!" Heisuke surges forward with no regard for stealth. At the sight of his blue and white jacket, the people start to panic a little, making way for the over-eager captain of the eighth division. Though it's only to be expected that they want no part in whatever it is that we're doing. They hate us like that.

I sigh again and shake my head. "Here we go again…" Then I dig my feet into the dirt and take off into the crowds, not waiting for them to make a path for me, instead opting to dodge between them, weaving between strings of people as I chase down my idiot partner.

As I catch up to Heisuke, a scream echoes through the remaining crowd. "Stop him! Thief!" It's a woman's voice, likely whoever he stole from.

Honestly, some days it feels like the women in this country are impossibly weak. I never see any of them tumbling around in the dirt, or practicing swordsmanship, or really touching any kind of weapon. It's like they train them to be completely helpless here. Though I can honestly say that even back home, most women were trained to be nothing more than a pretty face with nothing but air in their heads. I suppose that I'm fortunate in that regard, I've got no air in my head, and more knowledge than I can really apply in any of the situations I find myself in.

Jumping ahead to run alongside Heisuke, I shoot him a glance. "Looks like I was right." Not that it's really a surprise to me anymore. "We've got ourselves a thief."

"Yeah!" He grins, eager to finally be getting some action again. And I can't blame him. Most patrols are relatively quiet, and even then, just walking by tends to get everything broken up without effort. It's been a while since we last had a good chase.

The two of us race after the thief, our squads trailing a bit behind us. I sometimes forget that Heisuke and I are two of the fastest members of the Shinsengumi, and that we're often leaving the others in the dust when something does happen on patrol. Of course, someone has to be fast, otherwise we would never catch any of the bad guys.

I start to pull ahead of Heisuke, and I guide my eyes up towards the roofs. "Alright, I'll take the high ground, you keep pursuing him down here!"

"Right!" Heisuke races past me as I slow down a bit and turn into an alley.

Kicking off one wall, then off the opposite one, I make it up onto the roof, where I peer on ahead and get a visual of my target. _Found you…_ Then, I push off the roof and start sprinting along the narrow beams that join the two sides of the roofs in my path. I keep my footsteps light, nearly flying across the rooftops as I catch back up to Heisuke.

Well, the thief has some impressive stamina, I'll give him that much. But there's no way that his determination is going to outweigh mine or Heisuke's. He really picked the wrong day to rob someone, because if there's anything that can be said for the patrols I do with Heisuke, it's that we're very hard people to lose.

The thief makes it to a street corner and tries to turn the corner and make a break for it. Unluckily for him, he runs right into my path. And it's just his misfortune that I know how to aim. I leap off the roof and sail down towards the ground, landing squarely on the thief's back.

A body crumples under my weight, which isn't normally that significant, but I'll attribute the force with which I landed to the wonderful forces of gravity. For once, I'm rather thankful that my bastard of a father had me learn the arts and the sciences. Newton was quite an interesting person to read about.

The theories on the natural sciences aside, gravity has certainly served me well, because the thief under my feet has been firmly pressed into the dirt. He will not be up and about in sufficient time to avoid arrest. It looks like this part of the patrol is in the bag. Though, it's something of a pity that it had to end so soon.

Moments later, Heisuke comes skidding to a stop next to me, his eyes fixed on the thief. "Awesome, he's down!" Then, he pouts a little. "But I was kinda looking forward to fighting him."

I shrug slightly. "There was no need to fight him. You did a great job corralling him so that I could get the drop on him. No need to drag it out for another ten or fifteen minutes."

"Hey!" Heisuke glares irritably at me. "I wouldn't take fifteen minutes to fight a thief!"

"Maybe not, but…" I slide down off the thief and reach for the small sack that he stole. Inside it is an expensive looking hair pin. "Considering what he stole, I doubt that he would have just let you catch him."

"Huh? What'd he take?" Heisuke leans over, ignoring the unconscious thief. "Wow! That's pretty…I wonder who he stole it from."

I tuck the small ornament away in a safe place for now. "Well, once we tie him up and get someone to haul him off to the officials, we can go about looking for the lady he stole this from."

"Right…" He looks down at the thief and squats down to poke at him. "You really did a number on him." He frowns at me, squinting a little. "Have you gotten heavier?"

That little comment earns him a punch straight to the top of the head. _Okay, maybe times haven't changed that much. He's still an idiot who needs some sense smacked into him once in a while._ "Heisuke, one of these days, I hope that you learn that commenting on a woman's weight is not the best way to get on her good side."

"Ow!" His cheeks redden slightly as he massages the top of his head. "You know, you didn't have to hit me…" His expression reminds me somewhat of a puppy who's just been punished for doing something bad. Which is rather appropriate, considering how his personality can go from excitable and mischievous to apologetic and pouty in the blink of an eye.

"Obviously I did, because there's no other way to get these lessons through your thick skull!" I resist the urge to smack him again, since I really don't think that he can afford to have any more head injuries. He's stupid enough as is. Then, I turn to look at the thief, who seems to be bleeding a little. "Anyway, it was speed that really did it. I came racing right off the rooftop and landed right on his back. Unless I only weighed as much as a child, this is about the result that I expected."

Heisuke opens his mouth to respond, but a different voice echoes down the street. "Captains!" Both of us turn our heads to see our squads barreling towards us.

With that, I point down towards the thief. "Have this man tied up and brought to the authorities." There's no reason for us to deal with locking up and interrogating a thief. Spies and traitors are one thing, but petty thieves are another matter entirely.

The two groups come jogging up, sweat speckling their brows. They must have tried their damndest to keep up with us, only to be left behind as the two of us cornered our criminal. Though the simple fact that they managed to follow us so quickly speaks volumes about the dedication of these new recruits. And there's a few of them that are so green that this is their first ever patrol.

The greenhorns, of course, are the ones who end up with the job of securing the criminal while the rest of the two squads try their best to catch their breath. It almost makes me feel bad that we left them behind. Then again, if we had slowed down and waited for them, the thief would have gotten away, and we just couldn't have that. In the end, they're going to either have to improve their speed and stamina, or transfer to one of the slower squads. It all depends on how fr they're willing to go for their pride.

Then, I notice that there's someone from my squad missing. "Where's Takemura?" My eyes sweep over the men present once more, and I still cant find him.

Kazuki, one of the younger members, raises his hand. "We left him behind with the lady who was robbed. He thought that it would be a good idea if someone stayed, so that we would be able to identify the owner of the stolen goods."

I nod approvingly at the explanation. "Good, that will certainly make things much easier." I wasn't looking forward to trying to track the woman down, especially with how badly the people seem to think of us. The last thing I need is for them to complicate matters.

Once the thief is tied up, the burliest of our squads tosses the man over his shoulder and turns towards the offices held by the local authorities. "I'll take the moron to the police. I believe that you've got your own delivery to make." He looks pointedly at where I've stashed the package, the place where I always stash important items, the side pouch of my obi.

I have to agree with him there, and as he heads off down the street towards the offices, I take a leisurely stroll back towards the larger road, where the woman is no doubt waiting for her new hair pin to be returned to her. The best course of action would likely be for me to return it to her. The men in our group might intimidate her, so it's best that I concern myself with public relations instead. We don't really need to give the public any more reasons to hate us by making a woman feel like she's being harassed.

Once we're back on the main street, the men in our squads fall into line behind me and Heisuke, keeping watch, just in case there's another disturbance. Though in all likelihood, there won't be. The fact that we had any action at all today is a rather uncommon thing. I wouldn't count on us getting any more strenuous exercise today. Though I' sure that saying that out loud would only displease the men.

The walk back to where the altercation occurred takes nearly fifteen minutes at this much slower pace. And it actually impresses me how far the thief managed to run before we managed to bring him down. _Perhaps I need to work more on my speed…I should have been able to catch him faster…_

But my brooding on the subject is cut short when Takemura waves over to us from next to a stand. Next to him is a petite woman, dressed in a rather lovely kimono. She must be the owner of the expensive hair pin. It would certainly match the kimono she's wearing.

As we approach, the woman grows visibly nervous, so I hold my arm out to stop Heisuke from moving forward. "Leave this to me."

"What?" He frowns. "But why?"

I lower my voice to a whisper. "Can't you see that she's frightened? If a large group of men approach her, she looks like she'll faint. Just let me take care of this." I use my softer voice, trying to impress upon him the delicacy of the situation.

For a moment, Heisuke looks like he wants to protest. Then, he takes another look at the woman and seems to think better of it. "Alright. We'll wait over here, then." He gave in much easier than I thought he would, but really, I'm grateful for it. He may be something of an idiot, but he's a caring and reasonable idiot.

I nod silently and make my lone approach towards the woman. I glance at Takemura and shake my head slightly, gesturing back towards the squads. Thankfully, he's nowhere near as dense as Heisuke, and he takes the hint immediately, backing away from the woman and rejoining the men.

Alone, I step towards the woman until we're about a yard from each other. I put on a smile and reach inside my obi. "You know, I think that a piece like this belongs in your hair, rather than in the hands of a thief, don't you?" I remove the small sack from the folds of cloth and hold it out towards her. "Be more careful with your shopping next time."

Her eyes widen slightly as the sack drops into her hands. Then, the dark orbs glance over at the men behind me, before hurriedly returning to me. She bows quickly and backs away. "Thank you, Ma'am." Then, she looks up again and directs a small bows towards the men as well, before turning and disappearing down the street.

I turn back towards the squads, and the first thing I see is a brilliant smile on Heisuke's face. So often when we're out on patrol, all we receive are petty insults from people who don't even know us. To receive this kind of gratitude is rare for the Shinsengumi. But even if it's rare, the best part about it isn't the satisfaction of a job well done and appreciated.

The best part right now is the luminous smile on Heisuke's face.


End file.
